


In the Middle

by StarvingLunatic



Series: In the Middle [1]
Category: Kim Possible (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Anniversary, Apologies, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, BoKiGo, Cat Girl, Domestic, Drama, Epic, Explicit Language, F/F, Families of Choice, Family, Family Drama, Family Issues, Female Homosexuality, Femslash, Fluff, Food Sex, Forgiveness, Homophobia, Jealousy, KiGo, Kidnapping, Lawyers, Lesbian Character, Lesbian Sex, Martial Arts, News Media, Novel, One Shot Collection, Polyamory, Post-Series, Revenge, Romance, Sexual Content, Sexual Harassment, Slice of Life, Threesome - F/F/F, Tournaments, Violence, Witches, Wordcount: Over 200.000, Wordcount: Over 300.000, kibo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-09-14
Updated: 2009-06-06
Packaged: 2018-02-18 18:36:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 372,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2358098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarvingLunatic/pseuds/StarvingLunatic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>KiBo. KiGo. BoKiGo. Shego wants Kim. Bonnie wants Kim. Kim wants them both. Who's going to have her way? Probably Kim because she can do anything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Heart of the matter

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t own these characters. Disney does.
> 
> This is pretty long because it was going to be a one-shot. Because of the length and my faulty vision, there might be quite a few typos in this. I’m sorry in advance.

In the Middle

1: Heart of the matter

Tension set into Bonnie's jaw as she stood by the patio door and her turquoise eyes locked onto her lover. "I hate when she's like this. I told her not to go, but then again, I always tell her not to go. Hell, I used to actually beg her not to go. Not that she listens to me in this regard," she muttered in a rough voice, shaking her head as she watched her lover carefully.

Yes, she, Bonnie Rockwaller, used to beg. She was almost always close to getting down on her hands and knees and imploring her not to go, but she always held off. She needed to have some respect and dignity. Besides, she did not want to end up making her lover choose. After all, what if she chose to leave?

Bonnie's heart clenched at the very thought. "I'd die if she left me. I'd wither away and die, just fade from existence and no one would ever know or even miss me," she murmured with a tremble in her voice unable to look away from her lover. The air around her seemed to get heavier, lowering her shoulders. "And, god, I do love her so very much. Why do I have to love  _this_  girl, though?  _This_  girl of all girls?"

It was not something she would trade for the world, these feelings of love and being loved, but why did it have to be  _her_? Someone who was so kind and giving was also someone hurting her just by looking the way she did. Someone who hurt her just by going out and  _not_  doing something.  _Why did it have to be her?_

Sometimes, she wondered if her lover would feel better if she did go out, be deceitful, and get what she so desired. Maybe if her lover felt better, she would feel better, too, regardless of what it was that would bring her lover happiness.  _I wouldn't have to suffer through this anymore and she wouldn't have to suffer it either_.

"Would I be able to take it if she went out and just did  _it_? I almost feel like I would be relieved as long as she comes back like she used to be, before all of this started. Thinking about her doing that hurts, though. Do I want her to just go out and do it if it means she'll be better?" Bonnie asked herself, folding her arms across her chest as if to shield herself. She rubbed her sweater covered elbows, which did not help her feel any better.

It was not like Bonnie was being cheated on, not in any way that could be helped anyway. Maybe she was being cheated on spiritually or emotionally in someway, she considered. Her lover could not feel the same way about her as she did about her lover, she was sure of that.

"It's impossible for her to feel the same way about me. I mean, if she did, she'd be going out and she'd never come back in, looking like this, acting like this. It would never happen," Bonnie whispered, shaking her head. She sniffled and swallowed down her pain, knowing it would be replaced soon enough with more, unless her beloved came in.

Bonnie looked over at her lover, who still held a pose that would have been erotic in any other situation. Kim Possible, the love of Bonnie's life, stood on their deck outside in the backyard with her leg in the air, above her head. She had been standing like that for nearly an hour, not moving, not flinching, and hardly breathing.

"Why does it always have to be this way?" Bonnie wondered, her voice trembling. There was another sniffle and she was not sure if she would be able to keep the sorrow away now.

It was a normal drill after Kim came in from her weekly practice. The hero would come in as silent as the grave and go right to their deck. A grim, but determined glint in her usually lively olive eyes and a tightness set in her face. Most of the time, she did not even acknowledge Bonnie's existence, even if Bonnie tried to get her attention; and Bonnie did try. She would do all sorts of katas and then hold a series of poses. She would be out there for hours in any weather and Bonnie knew it was not really for practicing.

"It's about the stress. It's about  _her_ …" Bonnie growled and then swallowed down the pain and animosity that rushed through her.

Kim was attempting to calm herself down after her weekly outside practice. She was more than likely frustrated; that was what her body language said, anyway. It was rigid and almost curt. She never spoke to Bonnie until she was done with her routine and, even then, she never said much. It was like she was drowning out the world, looking to stop her own undoubted torment and causing Bonnie to ache in the process.

"Why do things have to be this way? Why can't she see only me? Why is it that sometimes she can't even see me?" Bonnie sniffled and rubbed her eyes, feeling tears burning just behind her eyelids. Her stomach rolled. "I know she's not aware of what she's doing. I mean, this is Kim for crying aloud. If Kim knew just how much this hurt me, she'd change. She loves me and I know she'd never knowingly hurt me, but this is getting to be too much. I know she loves me, but…"

Kim often and openly declared her affection and love for Bonnie. She went out of her way to prove Bonnie was special to her. She promised she would always protect Bonnie and most of her actions backed that vow up. She held Bonnie as if Bonnie were made of glass and the most precious thing on Earth. It was amazing to feel.

"So, I know for a fact, if Kim knew she was hurting me like this, if she knew she was causing me this awful pain, she'd make moves to change the situation somehow and end all of this suffering. At the very least, she'd try hide her own torment instead of just having it out in the open and plain as day. If she knew I worried this much about her, she'd do something to change everything," Bonnie assured herself, moving her right hand to massage the center of her chest. There was a dull pain banging against her ribs. "Kim hates when I worry about her. She's so selfless. I love that about her… I love her."

Times like now, Bonnie wished she was still the way she had been in high school, if only to make Kim feel how she felt. But, that did not even matter because she knew Kim was in agony, too. At least back then, she would have been able to pretend to be all right, just like she had pretended with everything else back then. She had hid her attraction so well back then, but now, she was so obviously, hopelessly in love with Kim that it was impossible to do anything else than what she was doing now, watching Kim like a hawk and hurting.

Shaking her head, Bonnie retreated from her spot by the door. She thought some space might help. She sat on the sofa and continued to wonder why she was not good enough for Kim.

"Kim is my everything.  _My everything_. She's all I need right now and all I will ever need, so why can't I be that to her? Why?" Bonnie begged anyone listening for answers. Of course, no one was listening.

It was not fair. She sometimes told herself it could not be helped. If Kim could love her the same way, then she would because this was Kim. Kim, who always did the right thing and treated people the best, so it obviously could not be helped. But, she did not believe that all of time.

"I know for a fact Kim would give this up if she could. She'd never do this if she could simply quit," Bonnie insisted, saying it out loud as if that made it truer. "But, she wants it this way. I can see it in her eyes that she wants things this way. She needs things like this, wants this pain more than wanting to be without it. She doesn't care that she's tearing herself apart or pushing her control to its limits. She wants this pain. She wants this pain to make the even greater agony go away."

No sane person enjoyed such utter suffering and distress. But then again, Kim could not actually be totally sane considering how she lived her life. Right now, though, the pain served a purpose, something like breaking one's finger to forget about a gaping wound in one's stomach.

Bonnie glanced at the love of her life again. Her love. "My love, how I wish I could take away this awful sting that seems to stay with you." It was things like that that let her know that she truly did love Kim. The fact that she wanted to help the redhead in someway, wanted to take on Kim's demons for her, rather than just go about her life told her that loved Kim more than she had any other person in her life.

"What's that saying again? Oh, right, 'if you love something, let it go.' Do I need to do that? Would that rid Kimmie of the pain in her eyes, in her body, in her movements? I can't let her go, though. It'd hurt so much. I don't think I'd be able to recover or survive… but, at least my baby would feel better," Bonnie muttered, hugging her knees to her chest. "I guess there's nothing to really think about then..."

The tanned woman took a deep breath as her body started shaking. She tried to hold herself together, literally. It did not help.

She was about to release her entire world and she would be left all alone. She was about to let go of the person who encouraged her to follow her own path rather than try to be like her siblings. She was about to let go of the person who made her believe she could be anything, including a lawyer, which she was. She was about to let go of the person who pushed her to work hard and be everything that she could be. She was about to let go of the one person on the planet who believed in her. She was about to let go of the only person who made her a better person. But, she owed it to Kim to do what she was going to do.

"Kim's been nothing, but good to me and for me. She's always pushed me forward, even when we were rivals in cheerleading and I didn't realize it. She gave me someone to be like, a reason to improve myself. I owe her for everything I am today," Bonnie reminded herself.

When they became a couple, Kim was the one who made sure she did not give up on anything she really wanted. She would have been so lost without the eccentric redhead, drowning in a misery she would have created for herself trying to be like others to make people like her. Kim was the reason she was everything that she was today, so she needed to give Kim something back. It was the least she could do.

"It is the very least I can do. If you love something…" the blue-eyed woman swallowed down the rest of the phrase, along with the feeling that her insides were decaying. She choked on it before it settled into her belly, fortifying her.

Bonnie walked out onto the deck and noticed how cold it. Had she known the temperature, she would not have said anything to Kim when the hero went out because Kim would not listen to reason anyway. The most Bonnie would have done was gone to the closet and removed a jacket, which she would have placed on Kim's shoulders. The redhead would not have noticed until she was about to come in because that was what always happened. The gesture would have earned Bonnie a gentle kiss as thanks, though.

"Kim," Bonnie said, as if the simple name was hard to pronounce. Her voice sounded foreign to her own ears and she could not stop her hands from trembling, even as she pressed them together.  _I need to do this while I have the courage to do it. It needs to be done_. Taking another deep breath, she found she could not steady any part of her. Her heart pounded in her chest, her lungs burned, her stomach flipped, and her body quivered.

The martial artist opened her eyes and turned her attention to her girlfriend. For a moment, she would not have thought anything of Bonnie's presence. Briefly, she considered her lover just wanted to tell her that dinner was ready or something else that felt inconsequential at the moment. But, she almost immediately noticed her girlfriend was trembling and she doubted it was from the weather since Bonnie was standing in the doorway, so she was still getting warmth from inside the house.

"Is something wrong?" Kim asked, soft concern coming from her mouth like a kind prayer. She remained in her stance, though.

Biting her lip, Bonnie opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Her insides felt like they were tumbling and grinding against each other, liquefying and ready to exit through her mouth. Swallowing again, she opened her mouth, ready to say what needed to be said. God, this hurts a thousand times more than what she went through with watching Kim out on the deck. She needed courage to say what she wanted to and it seemed that she lacked that virtue when in the presence of her lover.

"Bonnie, you okay?" the slender redhead asked in that beautiful concerned tone that she had, like all she wanted in this world was for Bonnie to feel better again.

Tears gathered in turquoise eyes.  _Oh, god, it's beyond a special to have_ the _Kim Possible personally worry about someone like me_. She always recognized how great her girlfriend was and how lucky she was to have Kim. Now, if only it did not all have to come to an end.

Taking a deep breath, Bonnie wiped her eyes before her tears got out of control. "Kim… you know… you can be with her if you want to," she finally managed to choke out.

"Huh?" Kim's face twisted into a rather bemused expression, eyebrows curled up and mouth set in a slight frown. Noticing the tears, she dropped her leg, feeling like this needed her complete attention.

"You can be with her if you want. You don't have to stay with me," the aqua-eyed woman explained, sorrow dripping from her tone like the tears in her eyes.

"I can be with her?" Kim echoed, arching an eyebrow.

The tanned female sniffled, hoping it would keep the tears from pouring out as her heart shattered in her chest. "I know you love her and I won't hold you back anymore. You can be with her like you want to. You don't have to stay with me anymore if you don't love me," she practically blurted out.

The hero looked utterly bewildered by her lover's words. From the look on her face, Bonnie would have thought Kim did not speak English. For some reason, the perplexed expression only hurt her more. Tears flooded her eyes and one slid down her cheek.

"Bonnie," Kim sighed and shook her head. "What makes you think I don't love you? Where are you getting such crazy ideas?" She reached out, but Bonnie stepped back, avoiding her.

An angry frown took over Bonnie's face and she pointed a shaking finger at the petite hero. "Don't lie. Don't try to act all noble. You're not doing us any favors. You know you love her. Go be with her," she seemed to order. It definitely would have sounded more like the command she wanted it to be if only her voice was quivering and her eyes were focused on the floor instead of Kim.

"Are you going to force me to go be with her?" Kim asked curiously because of the tone.

"Don't play around. You know you love her and you don't love me. Go be with her and stop torturing yourself like you are," Bonnie stated as water welled up even more in her turquoise eyes, causing them to glimmer with unending sadness. It hurt so much to say those words, but she wanted Kim to be happy and she knew that being with her was not going to do it.

"Bonnie, baby, where are you getting this stuff from?" Kim sighed again. "What makes you think I love someone else? What makes you think you're doing me or even us a favor by ordering me to leave? What makes you think I want to leave?" she inquired, her face somewhat begging and confused at the same time.

"Go," Bonnie commanded, as the tears finally poured down her face.

"Baby," Kim said when she saw the tears, hand moving out as if reaching for Bonnie once more.

The redhead marched over to Bonnie. She embraced Bonnie with those strong, reassuring arms of hers and held Bonnie with all the care that one would hold an egg to avoid breaking it. She placed gentle, loving kisses on Bonnie's cheek and neck.

"No, just go," Bonnie ordered, struggling in vain to get out of her girlfriend's iron grip.

"Why are you acting this way?" Kim begged to know, pressing Bonnie to her, wanting Bonnie to feel how much she loved her.

Sniffles came before a genuine response in a broken voice. "Because I know you love her. I've known for a while now. Just go be with her. Go!" she replied as her simple tears turned to gut-wrenching sobs. She broke down in Kim's arms, still trying to force Kim away from her. "Go…" she whimpered through the anguished wails.

"Bonnie," the slim hero sighed, caressing her lover's back in an attempt to calm her down.

"Don't try to lie to me either, Possible. Just go! I want you to be happy, so go!" she bawled. There was silence for a moment and she felt Kim take a deep breath.

"I won't lie to you, Bonnie. I do love her," Kim admitted in a low voice and Bonnie sobbed louder at the confession. Kim tightened her embrace, trying to be reassuring with her hold. "But, I love you, too, and that's why I can't go."

"No, you don't. No, you don't. No, you don't," Bonnie muttered in complete despair as she shook her head in Kim's shoulder.

The redhead's embrace tightened while her shirt was soaked. "Yes, I do. I love you, too, and I'm not going anywhere," she vowed in the strongest tone her lover had heard from her.

"No…" Bonnie mumbled, continuing to shake her head.

Kim felt her own insides squeezing against each other as Bonnie wept on her shoulder. She could not believe her lover tried to push her away. And so seriously!

She decided not to argue. She could not remember the last time she won a serious argument against Bonnie and she was not about to try her luck at such an important time. She lifted her aqua-eyed lover into her arms with some ease and carried her back into the house. Bonnie continued crying into her shoulder, which she did not mind.

"Bonnie, baby, I love you so much. I wish you weren't hurting so much. I don't like seeing you like. I'm so sorry," the redhead whispered.

Kim wished she had hid her emotions better. She wished she never let Bonnie see she loved someone else. But, it was like she said, she still loved Bonnie, too. Somehow, she still loved Bonnie with all of her heart, just like always, and she was not going anywhere.

The redhead eased her lover down onto the sofa and laid her on her back. Bonnie turned away, ashamed that she was actually crying like some rejected teenager. Kim leaned down and gently turned Bonnie's face back to her. She then placed a tender, but passionate kiss on Bonnie's lips. Bonnie cried out into the kiss as more tears streamed down her face, but Kim only deepened the kiss. Tasting the love of her life made Bonnie's heart pound heavy with both fear and love. She was going to lose this, she thought.  _I can't take this_ , Bonnie believed.

"Who loves you?" Kim inquired in a whisper as she broke the kiss, which lasted almost a half-minute.

Bonnie did not respond, only crying more and closing her eyes tightly. Kim repeated her actions, going in for another kiss. Her tongue caressed Bonnie's mouth, taking command of it almost as if she was taking command of Bonnie's entire being. As the kiss continued, she reached out, stroking Bonnie's thigh with just enough of pressure for Bonnie to feel her. She then she repeated her question.

"Who loves you?" the redhead asked again in the same tone, but more forcefully.

Bonnie still did not respond. Kim kissed her again, much longer than before. Her hand caressing Bonnie's thigh went from the outside to the inside of the area. Her tongue stroked Bonnie's with more passion, causing all sorts of delightful bolts to go through the tanned woman. Bonnie's heart pounded more than ever before, paining her chest, as Kim's hand came closer to her most intimate area.

"Who loves you?" Kim now demanded to know in a hiss.

"You do," Bonnie answered in a breath, still not opening her eyes.

"You know I do," Kim stated. "Now, look at me and tell me who loves you," she ordered.

There was some hesitation, but slowly blue-green eyes opened and found olive orbs staring intensely down at her. The sight of those beautiful green eyes brought more tears. She could see love there and just did not understand how Kim could still love her.

"You love me… But, it doesn't make any sense," Bonnie replied.

"It doesn't? I love you, baby. I will always love you," Kim promised. She knew this to be the plain and simple truth. She needed Bonnie to know it now, just like she used to know it before everything started.

The hero leaned down for another heated kiss, which Bonnie returned with familiar passion. Tanned arms wrapped themselves around Kim's neck, pulling her closer, wanting to feel more of her. Kim was of like mind in that regard. Her hands began to work Bonnie out of her clothes to help remind her just how much she was loved. The kiss paused only as Bonnie was freed from her shirt and one of Kim's hands gently wandered her torso while the other moved to Bonnie's pants. Her body responded immediately to Kim's touch, filling her with fire and making her claw at Kim's back. Eventually, the need for air broke the kiss.

"Who loves you?" she asked again, just to make sure that Bonnie knew.

"You do," Bonnie hissed as she arched into Kim's touch as her pants were removed; she had been dressed in her house clothes of plain sweatpants and a t-shirt.

"You know I do. And I always will. Remember that and never question it," Kim ordered, her tone was strong, but still somehow loving.

Surprisingly enough, Kim was the more dominate one in the relationship. Sure, she often lost arguments to Bonnie, but most of the time, when she wanted something done, Bonnie would do it. Bonnie enjoyed doing things for her, which would probably surprise damn near everyone that went to high school with them. Bonnie was like that because she wanted to make sure Kim understood she loved her, even if she was always so antagonistic when they were outside. She wanted Kim to know she loved her and she wanted them to be together always and forever.

"But, you said you love her, too," Bonnie pointed out, her voice cracking as she brought up the horrible subject again. The thought cooled off some of the fire in her, but the flame did not go all the way out, could not go all of the way out. Kim ignited a fervor in her that could never truly go away.

"I know. I love both of you," Kim replied, finger slowly circling around the center of one of Bonnie's breasts as if to soften the impact of her words.

Tears began building again. "How can you love both of us?" The question was almost a squeak because Bonnie's voice just would not allow her to seem unfazed by what was happening.

"Because I can do anything." As confident as the phrase was said, olive eyes simmered with clear sadness.

Bonnie only nodded, finally understanding what her lover was going through. It was not that she was not loved, but that Kim was in love with two women and she did not know how to deal with it. How could she take that pain away then? Would Kim ache forever?

Kim did not want to think on the matter, only wanting Bonnie to understand that she was definitely still very much in love with the fiery brunette. While Bonnie was lost in her thoughts, Kim managed to get her pants off. She then distracted her girlfriend.

"Kim!" Bonnie hissed as the redhead began stroking her. She lost her train of thought and could only focus on the pleasure that Kim was giving her.

-8-8-8-8-

Kim watched her stretch, as she did every time they met in a lot underneath an old, decaying bridge. She looked as good as always, maybe even better recently. Recently meaning the past year or so. Maybe she was better now than she was back then because she got more practice at things.

"You see something you like, Possible?" Shego asked in her usual teasing tone, which snapped Kim out of her daze.

"I see something I'd like to knock down a few pegs like I did last week," Kim replied with a cocky smirk, doing her own stretches.

Shego only laughed. She hopped to her feet once she was done stretching and she watched Kim finish up her stretches. It was time for their weekly routine. They would fight each other until one of them dropped, as they always did. It always took a few hours, some days more than others. It was the only time that they saw each other now.

A little over a year ago, an incident happened that changed everything. Drakken had been working on a new dooms' day device, hoping to get the world to bow to him. He must have made a critical mistake because the machine exploded and blew the entire lair to kingdom come, Drakken included. Shego heard that the only thing that they found of him were a few fingers. The thought still made her cringe. Sure, Doctor D had gotten on her nerves, but no one deserved to die like that.

She had been lucky only because she had her powers and she had not been near the machine. She had been injured badly in the blast, enough to where she was so pissed that if Drakken had not died in the damn meltdown, she would have killed him. It was that day she vowed to never be around such a reckless, crazy genius again.

So, she pretty much quit being a mercenary and that was made easier by the whole world assuming she died with Drakken. A large pool of her blood had been found and used to identify her. Since they only found a few of Drakken's fingers, they figured a pool of blood was as good as any indicator that she was dead. There was also the assumption that no one could survive the amount of blood she lost. Thankfully, not too many people understood the extent of her healing ability.

Shego now made her money as a street fighter for the most part. She participated in a lot of underground tournaments. To hide her identity, she often wore a mask of some kind and covered her whole body while fighting. She liked the idea of being dead to the world; it got people to leave her alone and after nearly being killed, all she wanted was to be left alone. She even stopped stealing things because she did not want anyone to recognize her style and it just seemed like too much trouble at the moment.

All she really wanted out of life now, aside from not being bothered, was her weekly fight with Kim. It was a frustrating thing for the both of them, but they so looked forward to it. It was a strange thing to be hurt by the one thing that they enjoyed—battling each other. Maybe they were both being nostalgic, they considered, longing for simpler times, but they knew that was not the case.

They yearned for things that only they could provide for each other and they seemed to get that best when their minds were in sync with their bodies to the highest degree and their bodies were moving together in their violent, yet graceful dance. It was then that they connected spiritually and somehow the whole world ceased to exist. There was only them and their wordless communication, telling each other everything that they needed to know.

"You know, you talk a lot of shit for someone that lost last week," Shego commented with her usual haughty smirk.

"Stop living in the past," Kim replied, waving the remark off.

"You're about to be living on the ground," the pale woman quipped.

"Bring on it." The challenge was issued with Kim's typical confidence.

The former villainess smirked and did not hesitate to go at Kim. It was like back when she was the bad guy and Kim was out to save the world. Of course, Kim was still out to save the world, just not from her. She supposed that out of everything on the planet, only Kim would remain the same until the day that she died.

"I'm taking you down just like I always did, Princess," Shego proclaimed.

"I think I won every time back then," Kim retorted.

Shego went after Kim with some slash moves; she still had her clawed gloves. Kim avoided the strikes by flipping backwards. She then countered with a kick, which Shego blocked with her forearm.

"You use the same moves all the time," the redheaded hero taunted her opponent.

"Because these are the moves that kick your ass, just like they did last week," Shego replied with another smirk.

Kim was always glad for the friendly match with Shego, even though she could not say it out loud or Shego would never let her live it down. She remembered back when she thought Shego died and the odd way that it made her feel. She felt sad, of course, but it was much deeper than that. It felt like she had lost part of herself and then one day, Shego just showed up in front of her. She had acted impulsively and hugged the pale woman the moment she recognized her, which had surprised Shego to say the least.

Out of all of the people on the planet, Shego had to see Kim. She missed the little redhead for some reason that she had not been able to explain. It was just that not being able to see Kim or interact with the petite hero made everything seem off. It was like she might as well have died that day if she could not go back and forth with Kim. Kim had been the highlight of her villain career because Kim offered an actual challenge to her that she had not had in her life. Meeting Kim made going evil worth it… not that she would ever say that aloud. Kim would not take it the right way anyway, she was sure of that.

The pale woman went at the hero with a series of hand strikes. All of which Kim agilely slipped by, but she was losing her ground. She had to counter if she wanted to regain control, which she did. She ducked down and went into a spin of sweep kicks, hoping to take Shego's legs out from under her, but the raven-haired woman backed away from all of the kicks.

"You should just give up, Princess. You already know the outcome," Shego boasted as she got away.

"I know, which is why I won't give up," Kim replied.

The older woman smirked more so than before. She guessed it was going to be another long day, not that she minded. She looked forward to days where she and Kim just went at it from noon to night; Kim was the same. Shego thought those were perfect days.

The pair went back and forth with each other. Attacking, mostly for Shego, and counterattacking, mostly for Kim. They dodged kicks and punches and tried to come up with new ways to defeat each other. The winner of their matches was always the one that came up with the most surprises. They never won in one big move. It was always a series of moves that wore the other one down that won the match. That was one of the reasons they enjoyed battling each other.

They constantly forced each other to think on their feet and they kept their minds sharp. They always had to see things from new angles, which made them better martial artists and it also helped them in fights against other people. Against each other, they learned what worked and what did not work without the threat of being critically injured or killed.

They worked against each other for hours, as usual. They did not care about the weather; it was cold now, enough for most people to not even think about going outside, but they would be there no matter how cold it was. It was dark with barely any light from the quarter moon out and the neighborhood was far from safe, which of course did not matter. They went at each other no matter what outside was like. It could be raining, snowing, hailing, or burning hot with bullets flying all over the place from some crime and they would still meet each other to do battle. The weather disappeared once they got started as far as they were concerned. The world disappeared as far as they were concerned.

Shego eventually pinned Kim against a wall. Their bodies pressed against each other and Shego stared into Kim's olive eyes. She got lost in those leaf-colored pools and then leaned down. Kim knew what was coming and did nothing about it. Shego kissed her and she kissed back.

The kiss was almost like a fight to them. It was sensual, but soul searing at the same time. It was beautiful, but rough. It wanted to be more than it was, though.

"Sorry," Shego apologized most insincerely as she pulled away for much needed air. If she were truly sorry, she would not have done it for the umpteenth time.

"It's all right," Kim replied in a low voice.

"It's all right?" the green-skinned echoed with an arched eyebrow. That was new. Usually, she got silence for her false apology, knowing guilt ate away at Kim. She hated to make Kim feel that way, but she had to kiss the younger woman or she was sure she would go mad each and every time it happened. She did not usually get such a great response from the redhead when she kissed her, though.

"At least, I think it's all right," Kim answered, her forehead wrinkling as she thought on the subject. Bonnie had said she wanted the olive-eyed hero to be happy, even if that meant being with Shego. She believed she would be happy if she could be with Shego.

Kim knew every week she would get to see a woman that she loved, but was not allowed to express that in any way because she was in a relationship. She knew very clearly she loved Shego because of what went through her when she thought that Shego died. There had been a void inside of her when Shego was gone, always throbbing and hurting. She did not know when she came to love Shego, but she knew that she did. But, she also loved Bonnie, just as she said she did. She loved them both, but she could only have one. Or that was what she thought.

Bonnie had given her permission to be with Shego. But, she was not sure if Bonnie meant that. It might have been something said just to make Kim feel better since it seemed she was always noticeable miserable after she returned from her day with Shego. She was always so down because she was reminded every week that she loved someone she could not have beyond the sparring match that they had, not that Shego seemed to follow that much since she occasionally kissed Kim.

Shego could not help herself. She was attracted to Kim, incredibly so. The small hero made her feel alive. Kim confirmed her existence for her. It was an amazing feeling and that was why she had to see Kim after the world thought she died. She needed to know she was alive and seeing Kim did that for her.

"Shego," Kim said, before taking a deep breath because she needed to gather her thoughts and courage for her next words.

"What, Princess?" Shego inquired, looking just a bit bemused because she could sense a change in her opponent. Something was fundamentally different about Kim all of a sudden.

"Will you come home with me?" the redhead requested as if it was the most natural thing in the world to say. Internally, she felt a little lightheaded and had to give herself a little pep talk to make sure she did not faint once she got the question out, though. Her heart raced and if she had not already gone through such anxiety with Bonnie, she definitely would not have thought it was possible to feel like her heart would burst out of her chest.

"What about the little woman?" the former villainess asked curiously, forcing out an amused smirk. This was the only way she could deal with the idea.

"I think it's okay," Kim answered.

"But, you don't know. Aren't you taking a big risk?" Shego asked with concern she never would have guessed she had. Once upon a time, she had a selfish streak that could rival her brother Mego's, but now she found herself caring about the welfare of others, Kim in particular.

"Isn't that what life is all about?" Kim countered with a small smile and Shego could not argue that point. But, the pale woman did think that there was a difference between taking a chance and putting a loaded gun to her head, which she thought that Kim was doing if she showed up at her house with another woman, even though she loved Bonnie.

Shego knew Kim loved Bonnie. They had gone through it the first few times she had kissed Kim. In fact, the first time she kissed Kim, the younger woman had actually sank to the ground and wept about how much she loved Bonnie. Shego took it more as Kim reminding herself than anything else and at first it had annoyed her.

She supposed she had come to accept Kim loving Bonnie somewhat, which was due to the fact that she knew some part of Kim Possible exclusively belonged to her. There was a reason that Kim always showed up for their weekly appointments and stayed until Shego decided that it was time for them to leave. A part of Kim was made only for her, so she would always have Kim.

-8-8-8-8-

"Bonnie," Kim called as she opened the door to their house.

"Yeah?" Bonnie asked as she poked her head out of the kitchen, showing a rather puzzled expression. She was stunned Kim was speaking to her after her weekly workout. It was a first time thing.

And then Bonnie caught sight of who was with her lover. Kim stood next to Shego. Bonnie felt and looked both wounded and infuriated at the same time. Her eyes ignited in the strangest mix of fury and sorrow that Kim had ever witnessed.

"What is  _she_  doing here?" Bonnie demanded, sneering in Shego's direction.  _And it seems Kimmie shot herself with the loaded gun_ , Shego mentally commented.

"Baby, calm down," Kim implored softly as she marched over to Bonnie.

She quickly backed Bonnie into the kitchen, out of view, before matters got out of hand. Shego did not mind much. She shut the front door and then looked around to see what kind of place Kim had going for her.

"What's she doing here?" Bonnie inquired once again; it was like venom was dripping from her words. Her eyes darted to the walkway outside of the kitchen, trying to catch some sight of Shego and destroy her with her heated gaze.

"You said it was okay," the olive-eyed female pointed out in a somewhat pleading tone. She appeared ready to burst into tears, eyes squinting and filling with water. She searched Bonnie's face, partially confused as to what was going on, even though she started the whole thing.  _She said it was okay. She wouldn't lie to me_.

"I said it was okay for you to be with her, not bring your whore into our home," Bonnie hissed, baring her teeth at her lover.

Those words snapped Kim to attention. Olive eyes refocused and her body became a little more rigid. "Hey, Shego's not mine or anyone else's whore. She's  _not_  a whore at all, so don't talk about her like that," she ordered in a stern voice, holding up a finger.

"Oh, excuse the fuck out of me," Bonnie huffed, scowling as she folded her arms across her chest, almost as if to protect herself. She could not believe she was scolded because she had insulted her lover's… whatever the hell Shego was.

Kim could see the hurt and feel the sense of betrayal radiating from her girlfriend. She took a moment to calm herself down, not wanting things to get any more out of hand. She just wanted to be happy. She wanted them all to be happy.

"Baby, you said I could be with her. I just wanted to see if you meant it or if that was just words. If you didn't mean it, I'll tell her to go and that I'll see her next week like always. We can go back to how everything was before," the redhead promised in a soft, soothing tone, reaching out to caress her lover. Not surprisingly, the brunette dodged the contact.

A tan face turned away, chin trembling and eyes blinking to keep tears at bay. Bonnie wanted so badly to tell Kim that she wanted Shego to go. She did not want to look at that woman. She wished Shego did not exist and she would love nothing more than to pretend Shego did not exist. But, that would only mean she lied to Kim and she really did not want Kim to be happy in life. It seemed so harsh.  _How could I not want my baby to be happy? How horrible is that?_ Bonnie could not believe she wanted Kim to be miserable as long as Kim stayed with her.

"Why am I not good enough?" Bonnie asked in a low, sorrowful tone. Her voice shook because she could not keep her chin from quivering. Her arms moved from being folded in front of her just to wipe away tears and then went back into their defensive position across her chest. Her eyes remained looking off to the left.

She both hated and enjoyed that she got to be pathetic in Kim's presence. It was a nice break than having to be the strong, super, extra go-hard bitch that she was to everyone else, but one day, she feared Kim might grow tired of the pitiful act. Not that Kim ever seemed to mind. In fact, she seemed to like being able to cuddle and cradle Bonnie.

"Don't talk like that, honey. You are good enough. You're always good enough and you always will be," Kim replied in a soothing voice, leaning in a little to test the waters. She hoped she would not get punched for it considering how upset Bonnie was.

"Why can't you only love me, like I only love you?" the turquoise-eyed woman inquired, motioning between them with one hand.

Kim sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "I didn't mean for this to happen. I can't help it. But, it doesn't make me love you any less. It doesn't make me feel any differently toward you and it doesn't make me want to leave you. You know I love you and I want to always be with you. My sweet Bonnie, how I love you," she insisted sincerely.

Bonnie nodded and swallowed a lump in her throat as she turned to face Kim. "I know you do, but I still feel so awful inside, Kim. I know you didn't mean for this to happen, but I feel so useless. What does Shego give you that I don't? Why can she make you happy and I can't? It's not fair, baby. I want you to be happy, but I also want to be the only thing you need. You're the only thing I need." Sniffling, she wiped her eyes.

The redhead leaned in closer, pressing herself gently into her girlfriend. "Baby, it's not like that. I wish I could explain this better, but it's not that she can only make me happy. She can't. I love you and I love her. There's nothing wrong with you, Bonnie. You're perfect. I love you more and more each day and I'm extremely thankful for you, but I love her, too. I can't explain it anymore than that. I don't know how this happened, how I'm capable of loving the both of you as I do, but I do. I need you both," she explained, hoping it was enough this time.

"Kimmie, I know this is hard for you and it's hard for me, too, but I want you to be happy," Bonnie whispered, scared to say it any louder than that because she knew what those words truly meant.

"Do you want her to leave?" the hero asked to be certain.

"How long will she be here?" Bonnie countered, her voice still low and weak.

Kim shrugged and scratched her head. "I don't know. Shego's the type that comes and goes as she pleases."

There was a slow nod. "She's not going to be living here, right?"

Kim shrugged again because she did not know. "Honestly, we didn't talk about that. Technically, Shego's homeless. She stays in a bunch hotels because she doesn't want someone to find her on purpose or by accident. But, she didn't say anything about living her when we spoke. She didn't even hint at that. But, I really don't know what the plan is. This was very spur-of-the-moment."

"Kim," Bonnie said in a stern tone because she did not like that response.  _If Shego's going to be living with us, does that mean Kim will be sleeping with Shego, too? What does any of this mean?_

"I just told her to come here. We didn't talk about if she'd live here or something like that. I wouldn't just bring someone home to stay without talking about it with you. I'm not that inconsiderate, am I?" Kim inquired curiously. The whole idea of bringing Shego home was starting to make her think she was actually rather inconsiderate from the way her girlfriend reacted. Maybe she did horrible things all of the time and just never realized it.

"No," the brunette woman answered.

"Look, Bonnie, really, if you're not comfortable with this, I'll tell Shego I made a mistake and she'll leave," the redhead promised. "She already thinks I'm an idiot for even asking her, so she's already ready to leave."

Bonnie bit her lip. She was not very comfortable with any of what was happening. She wanted to be in a somewhat normal relationship, just her and Kim. They were a couple and that was normal, but now Kim was bringing Shego into the mix and throwing things off. She did not want to turn Kim down, though because she knew it would bring terrible agony to the hero.

"I'll try," Bonnie whispered.

"You will?" Kim asked. Her eyes lit up with hope.

Swallowing down any bitter or harsh feelings, the brunette nodded. "Yeah, I'll try."

Kim smiled and she leaned in to give Bonnie an appreciative kiss. Bonnie could tell from the feel of the kiss she had done the best thing for her lover. She could not believe it, but she was about to feed and entertain the other love of her girlfriend.  _I must be all types of crazy_ , she concluded. Looking into those glimmering green eyes, she knew she was crazy—crazy in love.

"Thank you so much, baby. This means a lot to me," the redhead said and because of her kiss all Bonnie could do was nod.

Kim exited the kitchen and returned to Shego to let her know it was all right for her to stay. The pale woman shrugged, as if she did not care, but she was secretly pleased she was somewhat welcomed. Now, she could see what was so special about Bonnie and why her Princess stayed with that woman instead of running away with her. She liked to think if she figured Bonnie out and what she did for Kim, Shego could then do it and Kim would come with her, not needing Bonnie anymore.

"I guess we can eat," Bonnie announced, sticking her head out of the kitchen again.

"Bonnie's a great cook," Kim informed Shego, pride in her sweetheart oozing off of her.

"I'll bet I'm better," the ex-villainess bragged, folding her arms across her chest and looking rather smug.

"Be nice," Kim ordered, shaking her finger at the raven-haired woman.

"I didn't agree to that," Shego replied with a naughty gleam in her eyes.

"Shego, please, be nice. This is really tough on Bonnie, but she promised to try. I want you to try too. Please," Kim implored the pale woman.

Emerald eyes rolled and Shego sucked her teeth. "Fine, Princess. I'll try," she vowed in a flippant tone that would have alarmed anyone that knew her, but Kim knew Shego's word was good enough when it came to her.

Kim led her guest to the dining room and they sat down at the small, dark wooden table. Bonnie served dinner and it was clear from her body movement that she was not very pleased with what was going on, especially when she saw that Shego had taken her seat at the head of the table, which was also right next to Kim. The glare from those turquoise eyes might have killed a lesser soul when they locked on Shego. Shego smirked a little, admiring the moxie Bonnie clearly had.

Their table was set up where the seat at the head of the table and the one to the right side were very close. It was like that so Bonnie and Kim could be close to each other while having meals and they could touch each other if the urge overcame them, which it often did. Bonnie liked being able to put her hand on Kim's knee, assuring herself that Kim was there for her.

Bonnie was not deterred, even if Shego was in her seat.  _Who the hell sits at someone else's table and takes the chair at the head of the table? The nerve of this woman!_  While Bonnie silently fumed, she took another chair and moved it to the right side of the table. She sat down at Kim's side. She gave Shego a look that claimed Kim and ordered Shego to back the hell off. The moss-hued former thief only smirked.

"So, what do you two crazy kids do for fun around here?" Shego asked to make small talk as she looked down at the meal.  _It does look good_ , she silently admitted. It was baked chicken with yellow rice and broccoli. When she tasted it, she had to concede Bonnie could cook her ass off, but she would never admit it out loud.

"Nothing you're interesting in," Bonnie replied curtly, hoping it would help get the green-skinned woman out of her home sooner.

"You'd be surprised what interests me," Shego commented as if she was teasing the chef.

"I'm sure I wouldn't," the tanned female said flatly, continuing to glare at the older woman.

Shego only smirked. Well, she could see a little as to why her Princess was with Bonnie. She seemed to be a strong-willed female that did not want to be pushed around and did not take any mess. At least her Princess had halfway decent taste in women.

Bonnie and Shego continued trying to gauge the other through out dinner. Kim knew better than to get in the way. She actually felt that the more they went back and forth, the better things would be. They were women that fed off of argument and conflict, after all. All of them were like that, so if they were being hostile toward each other, the redhead took that as getting along the only way they knew how.

Bonnie was trying to figure out what Shego offered her beloved that she could not provide. The only thing she could come up with was the fact that Shego was someone for Kim to physically fight with. Was that such a big deal? Did martial arts mean so much to Kim?

Shego, on the other hand, could not figure out why Kim would love and stay with Bonnie rather than run around with her. She supposed there were parts of Kim that she ignored liked being domestic and stable. The slender adventurer more than likely enjoyed coming in from a hard day of doing God-only-knows-what to find dinner being prepared for her, someone to watch a movie with, and things of that nature. Was that such a grand feeling that Kim would stay with Bonnie? Was that what she could not measure up to?

Neither of them could understand why they could not measure up individually or why Kim claimed to love them both. It was something that needed to be further investigated because they were certain that the first one to figure Kim out would be the one that could win her complete affection. It made sense to those two, anyway.

-8-8-8-8-

"Yo," Shego said, somewhat a mock-greeting to Bonnie as she stepped into the house. "Kimmie around?" the older woman inquired as green eyes scanned the house. She would not put it past Bonnie to lie to her, even if it might get Bonnie in trouble with Kim.

"No, she's out," Bonnie answered in a short tone, glaring at Shego, trying to force the woman out of the door with her gaze.

Shego ignored the look and went into the living room, making herself comfortable. Bonnie followed, gaping incredulously at what was happening. It was one thing to halfway steal her girlfriend, but now to be trying to steal her home!  _The nerve of this freaking woman!_

"Kimmie's not here, so you might as well leave," Bonnie ordered.

"I'll wait. I might even tell Kim how rude you've been to me," the pale woman commented, smirking to let it be known that she was well aware that she was making a threat.

A low growl escaped Bonnie, but all of her protests died at that moment. She stormed out of the living room, not wanting to look at Shego until it was necessary to do so. She was going to have to learn to put up with that.

Shego began coming around the house daily and Bonnie never objected to it, but she was never happy to see the former villain. They constantly argued with each other and Kim made sure to stay out of things whenever she was around. In fact, Kim's most frequently used gesture when all three of them were in the house was to hold her hands up in defeat to show that she was neutral.

Kim was able to avoid arguments between them by staying silent, but she could not avoid the arguments altogether. Bonnie liked to clutch onto her the moment she entered the house. Kim did not really mind. She knew it was Bonnie's way to help her deal with Shego being around, but it also was not very far from Bonnie's usual behavior from when they were in the house anyway. Bonnie always said being close to Kim settled her, so she stayed close in the house to unwind from work.

-8-8-8-8-

"Ready for your butt-kicking?" Shego asked Kim as they stepped out into the backyard of Kim's house. The birds chirped in the morning air and sun beamed down on the duo in tank tops and shorts.

"You have the strangest fantasies, Shego," Kim remarked, moving to one end of the yard as Shego went to the other.

"I don't know, you tied to the bed isn't a strange one," the older woman quipped with a smirk as she settled into her fighting stance.

"That one will definitely remain a fantasy," the hero replied, dropping into her own stance. For the briefest of moments, they stared at each other before rushing each other and meeting with their fists. The smiles on their faces were clearer than the blue sky.

With Shego coming by everyday, she and Kim got to spar a lot more. They usually worked out when Bonnie was at work, not because they did not want Bonnie to see them getting along, but because they did not have anything to do in the morning. Sparring was their favorite way to kill time.

"Kimmie, I'm surprised a woman such as yourself doesn't have a million and one things to do this morning," Shego commented. She had always expected Kim to get some high-power, high-class career once she entered the adult world because of her need to be perfect and her competitive nature, but she had been way off with that guess.

"You know I'm a freelance photographer and I typically take pictures when I'm on missions. I get the most unique shots then, not just of scenes, but people and places too. This isn't the best distraction you've ever come up with," Kim replied, dodging a palm strike from her opponent.

"I try my best. You still a hot commodity with magazines, galleries, museums, and everything else because of your 'unique shots'?"

"Again, not a good distraction."

"Oh, no?" Shego acted as if she was surprised and then she tackled Kim.

They both landed in the grass with a soft thud. Before Kim could comprehend what was happening, Shego's lips were upon hers, trying to take command of her. Of course, she responded in kind. By the time they parted, their mouths tingled with affection while their lungs burned for air.

"How's that for a distraction?" Shego replied with a smirk.

"Predictable," Kim scoffed, jumping up to get back to the fight.

Kim and Shego often got caught in romantic moments while sparring. Shego often stole kisses while they were going back and forth because it was hard for her to get any when Bonnie was around. The aqua-eyed female was often on Kim like a vice when she was in the house, trying to keep the Big-bad Shego away from her little Kimmie. It would have been amusing if it were not so frustrating for Shego.

-8-8-8-8-

"Baby, I'm home," Bonnie called as she entered the house. When she was not immediately acknowledged, she frowned. Her eyes instantly went to the backyard, looking for some sign of her lover. She hated coming home and finding the emerald-eyed ex-thief there, going at it with Kim in the backyard.

They were not in the backyard from what she could tell and then she heard a loud explosion in the living room. It was clearly from the television. Marching to the living room, she found the pair where they occasionally were. They were cuddled up on the couch, watching a movie. The sight caused a deeper scowl to settle on Bonnie's face.  _How dare they sit there like I don't exist? How dare Shego act like Kim was solely hers!_

"Hey, baby," Bonnie said, getting Kim's attention.

"Oh, welcome home, sweetheart," Kim replied, smiling brightly at the sight of the tanned woman.

Shego frowned as Bonnie leaned down, planting a deep, passionate kiss to Kim's lips. It was a typical greeting and always drew that reaction from the former thief. Bonnie pulled away slowly, savoring her lover's lips and then looked smugly at Shego. Her eyes screamed at Shego;  _you see that, bitch? Kim's mine!_

Shego glared back and was tempted to ask Bonnie if Kim tasted like her, but doubted Kim would find that cute. She glanced at Kim and noticed she was in a bit of a daze. The sight got a low growl out of her and the haughty look from Bonnie was not helping. She doubted she would ever get use to the couple doing such things either.

"That's how you kiss a woman," Bonnie told Shego.

"Oh, really?" Shego inquired, feeling that was the straw that broke the camel's back. Grabbing Kim by the arm, she spun the hero to her and started a kiss that could only be called scandalous, her tongue visibly caressing and stroking Kim's own as her lips glided against Kim's mouth. Once Kim was again dazed, Shego pulled away and gave Bonnie an extremely proud smile.

Bonnie scowled now. "You don't kiss the woman you love in a way that would make a whore blush."

Shego scoffed and rolled her eyes, but thus started a tradition. Whenever Bonnie came home, she would greet Kim with a deep kiss, right in front of Shego's face. Every now and then Shego would retaliate.

An unwritten rule in the house since Shego started showing up was that Kim could not initiate any intimate or romantic actions when all three of them were in the house. She could not cuddle, hug, heavily defend, and damn sure could not kiss either of the ladies. Bonnie and Shego could do damn near anything they wanted to Kim, short of screwing her right in front of the other. As crazy as it all sounded, it seemed to work for them for the moment.

-8-8-8-8-

"Shego, why don't you get off of your lazy ass and do something for once?" Bonnie barked at the green-skinned female, who was lounging on the couch.

"Because I'm not your fucking maid," Shego replied as if it was obvious.

The two were home alone. Kim had gone out to set up a showing of some of her photos in a gallery and she implored Shego to not kill Bonnie while she was gone. She then begged Bonnie to not call the cops on Shego. They both agreed in dismissive tones, but Kim knew that was good enough; it was also the best she would get out of them.

They had spent the afternoon going back and forth with each other. Bonnie always started things. Shego would have been happy to sit on the sofa and wait for her Princess to return while watching monster movies, but Bonnie could not let Shego be happy. It just was not in the cards because, weeks later, Bonnie still resented Shego being there.

"Why don't you go home?" the brown-haired female huffed. "And stop eating in the fucking living room," she added because Shego was eating popcorn that Bonnie knew she would have to vacuum up later since Shego was a slob at the best of times.

"Shut the fuck up. Do you have an 'off' switch or something?" the pale woman remarked, keeping her eyes focused on the television with the hope that Bonnie would leave her alone.

"I will not shut up. You're in my fucking house. Why don't you go the fuck home?" Bonnie repeated with a snarl.  _God, Kim's not around, so Shego should just get the fuck out!_

"Why don't you get out of my ass? I'm sitting here, not bothering anybody. Are you always this bitchy or am I just this lucky to receive special treatment?" the former villainess inquired, waving the irksome woman away.

"You're just this damn annoying," Bonnie retorted.

"How am I annoying? I'm not doing shit." Shego motioned around herself to the couch, drawing attention that she was just sitting there. She then pointed to the television, showing that she was just trying to enjoy the program.

"You're breathing my fucking air, that's enough in my book."

"Then go the fuck outside," Shego quipped, jabbing her thumb in the direction of the door.

"Just get the hell out. You don't do anything around here, but mooch off of us. You're like the most useless human being on the face of the Earth. You're just a fucking pest," Bonnie declared.

Shego rolled her eyes. "Look who's talking. What do you want a fucking medal for actually keeping your house clean?"

"No, I want you to get the hell out, though, so I can continue to keep my house clean." Bonnie pointed in the direction of the door.

They would have kept on in that manner, but they heard the door open. They looked at each other and then made a dash toward the door as if they were both four years old. Bonnie shoved Shego into the wall when it seemed like Shego would make it to the door first. Bonnie threw herself into Kim's arms before the redhead even got the chance to shut the door.

"Baby," Bonnie practically purred and then she leaned in for a deep, long, passionate kiss.

Shego looked on as she climbed to her feet. If Bonnie was anyone else, even Kim… maybe especially Kim, Shego would kicked her feet out from under her for such a move. But, since Bonnie was who she was, namely Kim's beloved, she was saved. The only thing Shego could take from the situation was that Bonnie was a sneaky little thing and things like that were all right by her. She was still pissed, though.

After spending so much time around Bonnie, especially when Kim occasionally left them alone, Shego was pretty sure she hated the tanned bitch. Bonnie was always on her case about something, speaking to her as if she was some bratty child. Most of the time, she really wished Bonnie would just shut the fuck up. It was terribly vexing since she had to put up with it or see Kim less. Seeing Kim less was not an option.

"All right, all right. Break it up, you two," Shego said to be annoying and she actually went and separated the couple.

"Hey!" Bonnie barked, glaring at the older woman for her audacity.

"My turn," Shego commented and she leaned down to top Bonnie's pathetic kiss… well, it was pathetic in Shego's opinion. She kissed the redhead for almost a minute.

Kim had to be careful when she received affection from Bonnie or Shego with the other around. One moan and the argument would be hours long. One involuntarily movement, like wrapping her arms around one of them, and World War III could start. It was a bit nerve wrecking, but she really enjoyed being around both her loved ones despite the rules and control that she had to show.

"Okay, enough of that!" Bonnie hollered and she tried to pull Shego and Kim apart.

The pale woman tried her best not to budge, but the redhead stepped out of her grip. Kim was not looking to upset Bonnie by seeming to give Shego more attention. The green-skinned woman frowned since the kiss was ended and Bonnie attached herself to Kim's arm, as she tended to do when they were all in the house.

Kim smiled at both women, looking like some sort of happy sprite. There was a somewhat bright look in her eyes that had taken residency there and never left since the three of them had been under the same roof. Oddly enough, it was this look that made everything all right for Bonnie and Shego.

"Glad to see you two didn't kill each other and the house is still standing. You're going really good," the hero commented.

Both Bonnie and Shego noticed that Kim was happy with the situation, even though it was rather bizarre. Kim never had those sullen moments that Bonnie still remembered vividly where Kim ignored Bonnie's existence. The redhead no longer had those silent, melancholic times that used to kill Bonnie as she watched her lover go through all of her martial arts katas and practice stances. The redhead smiled a lot more, too.

Bonnie was not upset or jealous over the fact that Kim smiled so much more now that Shego was around. It was because the smiles were not just for Shego. The smiles were for Bonnie as well and for the situation altogether. Kim was just content with life now, which made Bonnie and Shego content in return, but that did not mean that they had to get along.

"So, what happened at the gallery?" Bonnie inquired, speaking to the petite redhead.

"Everything's set up and my pictures are there to be looked at. He wanted to have an opening gala, but I'm not sure I can do it. He thinks it'll help the pictures sell if there's a time when people can come and meet the artist, 'the great Kim Possible.' His words, not mine. I promised to try, but I'm not sure when I'll have the time," Kim replied.

"That's great," Bonnie said, smiling brightly, which caused Shego to roll her eyes.

"Snapping pictures is easy, Princess. Any schmuck with a disposable camera can take a picture. You need to make a living off of something that makes you actually feel alive. You should be in a ring somewhere, kicking someone's ass," Shego declared.

Bonnie glared at the older woman. "Excuse me, one, photography takes talent, which my baby has by the metric ton. Two, photography pays the bills much better than your martial arts do, especially considering your situation. Lastly, photography doesn't send my baby home with bruises and sore muscles or worse," she retorted.

"Also, going there, I get to find out that I sold a photo, so I can take you two out for dinner," Kim announced, dodging an argument that could go on for hours if she did not step in.

"How about you take me and we drop her in a lake on the way?" Shego suggested with a taunting smirk, jabbing her thumb in Bonnie's direction.

"Shego," Kim scolded the pale female, shaking an index finger at her.

"It's just a thought," Shego replied with a shrug.

"Here's a better thought, why don't you go home?" Bonnie huffed.  _God, I'm not even going to be able to enjoy a rare night out with my baby because Shego's going to have to come and ruin everything!_

"This just tells me you should stop thinking," Shego quipped.

"Both of you, cut it out and go get ready," Kim gently ordered with a smile.

Kim was proud of herself to be able to take both Bonnie and Shego out. Being a freelance photographer made good money sporadic more often than not. She liked being able to treat them to something considering everything they did for her, like cooking or sparring. Just being there for her and tolerating each other for her made her wish she could do so much more for them.

The trio went out to a decent restaurant. Bonnie and Shego got along somewhat, namely they did not argue very loudly. Kim only watched them as they went back and forth with each other over single thing they could. Sometimes, the petite hero thought they even forgot that she was there when they argued with each other. They thrived off of conflict like plants off of sunlight. They liked going at each other verbally, even if they did not want to believe it.

Shego offered Bonnie something that Kim just could not come up with and that was a real argument. Every time Bonnie had a snap, Shego was able to bite back. Their arguments were eternal because of that and they both enjoyed it, even if they liked to pretend it bothered them. They were not pretending very well in their lover's opinion.

In return, Bonnie came up with something for Shego that Kim could not, which was also a real argument. Shego and Kim teased and taunted each other. They were playful with each other. Their arguments were like fights with water guns while Shego's arguments with Bonnie were like fights with laser cannons and bazookas. They enjoyed that and that was why they always went at each other, why they could not ignore each other.

Kim really did not mind that sometimes her lovers focused on each other more than they did on her. She wanted them to be comfortable around each other. She wanted them to get along the best way that they could because she wanted them all to stay together. So far, it seemed to be working out.

-8-8-8-8-

"Hey, where's my Princess?" Shego inquired as she entered the house. Bonnie had answered the door, even though she knew who knocked. She told herself that she answered because if she did not do so, Shego would just break in, which was true.

" _My_   _baby_  got called out for a mission," the aqua-eyed female replied in her usual snippy fashion.

"Aw, now that's no fun. It means I gotta spend my time with you until she gets back. When'd she leave?" the pale woman asked.

"This morning."

"Ah, she should be back soon then," Shego commented with a shrug and she strolled into the living room.

"So, why don't you come back?" Bonnie suggested in a huffy tone.

"I couldn't be here getting on your nerves if I do that, doy," Shego replied with a typical smirk.

Bonnie frowned and the ex-thief went to the sofa. She flopped down and started watching television. She and Bonnie got into their usual arguments until Bonnie suddenly withdrew. Shego did not think anything of it until she noticed that it was dark outside. She looked at the time.

"Where is little Kimmie?" Shego wondered aloud, feeling a little unfamiliar ping in her stomach. It was worry.

The pale woman pondered the location of her Princess for a while and then she wondered what happened to Bonnie. She got up from the sofa and wandered into the dining room where she located Bonnie going through the liquor cabinet.

"What are you doing, hothead?" An arched ebony eyebrow accompanied the question.

"Are you that stupid or blind? What does it look like I'm doing?" Bonnie replied with a sneer, not bothering to look at her unwanted guest. "Where the hell is the coconut rum?" she muttered with a growl, moving bottles around.

Titling her head to the side a little, Shego took in what she considered a peculiar sight. "You're serious, huh?"

"Look, I don't need you bugging me right now." Her eyes would not look at Shego, only seeking out the only comfort she had at times like these.

"What's wrong? You've had enough of your own shit?" the former villainess teased.

"Leave me the fuck alone!" Bonnie hollered, causing Shego to step back in surprise. Her raw voice was new.

"What's the matter? You worried about Kimmie? Don't worry about her. She can do anything, after all," Shego said, not just for Bonnie, but to remind herself, too. Hey, she had been in the house for twelve hours and they had not heard from Kim.

"I'll worry all I want," Bonnie huffed as she finally found her prize. "You want a drink?" she offered.

Shego glanced at the clock. "Yeah," she agreed with a dejected sigh as her shoulders slumped.

Bonnie mixed them both a drink in glasses that were taller than they should have been, but Shego did not say anything. They sat down at the table and wasted no time downing the liquor. The brown-haired female made them some more drinks and they downed those, too. The tanned woman then just fixed them a third each.

"Shego…" Bonnie said in a low tone, bottom lip quivering.

"Yeah?" the raven-haired woman replied, focusing on her half-empty glass.

"Do you love her?" Bonnie inquired, voice still low, but the question was clear.

"Who?" Shego asked, glancing up at the younger woman. Apparently, the liquor was starting to get to her since it was obvious whom it was that Bonnie meant, but her brain could not work it out.

"Kim. Do you love her?"

There was a small laugh and a very happy smile. "'Course I do. That's my Princess and she has been for a long time now. She's been my Princess before I even knew she was."

"Do you love her more than I do?" Bonnie asked curiously. Obviously, the liquor began to hit her, too, with the questions that she was allowing to leave her mouth.

The pale woman eyed Bonnie for a moment as if she was pondering the answer to that question. It was hard to think about how she would answer it because of the alcohol buzzing through her mind.  _Do I love Kim more than Bonnie?_  She would like to believe that she did.

"Kim doesn't think so," the green-skinned female answered, spinning her glass a little.

"Yeah. She's great, isn't she?" Bonnie commented with a slightly dopey smile. Her eyes closed halfway.

"Yeah," Shego agreed in a lazy drawl.

Bonnie smiled a bit more. "Kim has to be great if we're willing to do this for her. Hell, we're actually willing to share her. She has to be seriously great."

There was a slow nod. "It's crazy we're both willing to let her be with another woman as long as she's with us at the same time… if that makes sense. It's just intense," she commented, sending up a flare from her finger. "Intenser than burning plasma," she added.

"That was almost poetic," Bonnie said and then there was a long moment of silence. "Shego, did you have sex with Kim before you came here?" she asked.

The moss-hued female laughed a bit, as if the question was a real joke. "I haven't had sex with her yet," she admitted.

Bonnie almost fell off of her chair and it had nothing to do with the fact that she was drunk. She was stunned, even through her tipsy state of mind.  _Shego hasn't had sex with Kim yet?_  It was unbelievable.

"The way you kiss her… I've always thought that you two were fucking like animals whenever I'm not here or whenever you were alone together before you started coming here. I never wanted to ask her, though. I was too scared," the tanned woman confessed. She was not sure how she would have taken Kim confirming she was having sex with Shego, but she knew it would have hurt immensely.

"She thinks you're not ready for that," Shego replied in a low tone.

Turquoise eyes blinked hard. "Wow… Kim actually held off having sex with you because of what it would do to me? She's really great. That's so considerate," she said and she meant that. It did not even cross her mind that Kim's feelings were the reason she was sitting with Shego right now. "I hope she's all right. It's been over twelve hours and she hasn't called either of us or anything…" A sigh escaped her throat.

"She'll be all right," Shego said, even though it was hard to believe her when she had had as many drinks as Bonnie. She seemed to be holding it better, still sitting up straight and everything, but she was still tipsy.

"I'm a little amazed that you're still around, even if Kim isn't sleeping with you. I've had you figured for a person that needs sex often. You really do care about Kim, huh? It's not just a physical attraction?"

Shego shook her head. "I don't know what it is. I just know it's so strong that not only can I not escape it, but I don't want to. No matter what."

There was a nod. "I truly understand."

"She really loves you," Shego muttered, emerald eyes back on her glass.

"She loves you, too, though," Bonnie said in a strong tone, almost as if to reassure the woman that should be her rival.

"She loves you more. She cares about what you think more. She has to care about you more because she holds off on things with me because of how you might feel about things. It never matters how I feel. It's always Bonnie, Bonnie, Bonnie," the pale woman retorted, a tear sliding down her cheek as she sneered at her glass.

"No, she loves you more. It hurts her so much to not be able to be with you completely. It was like she was dying whenever she came home and you weren't here. Her eyes always cried for you, even if she never shed any tears in front of me and there was never anything I could do about it," the tanned female objected.

They got into a drunken argument about who Kim loved more. When it was all said and done, though, the most they could figure out was that Kim cared about both of them. They were not sure if she favored one above the other, so they would not mind taking her word on it that she just loved them. It was not more or less. It was just love, eternal and vast.

"You know, I can see why she loves you. You're just what she needs. Someone stable and willing to look after her to make sure she doesn't get too caught up in doing anything and everything," Shego observed. It might be worth mentioning that she was on her fifth drink then and Bonnie made them strong in those tall glasses.

"I can see why she loves you. You're pretty much just like her. Wild and free. You can do all of that crazy stuff with her. I mean, I can't keep her company by doing martial arts or if she wants to go bungee jumping or something crazy like that, but you can. You can keep her life interesting and she likes that," Bonnie noted. She was also on her fifth drink and since she was lighter in weight compared to Shego, it was hitting her much harder. She would not last much longer at this rate.

"But, she needs someone like you. Someone that can civilize the wild child that I like being around."

"I guess. I miss her. I want her to come home. Do you think she's okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine. That's my Princess, after all," Shego said, proudly putting her chin up in the air.

"My baby," Bonnie sort of corrected. She sounded more like she was adding to what Shego said and not countering it.

Shego only held up her glass and nodded to that. Maybe she was agreeing or maybe she was conceding. She was not too sure and neither was Bonnie.

-8-8-8-8-

Kim came into the house, holding her left shoulder. Easing the door shut, she quietly moved through the house. She did not want to wake Bonnie up if she was asleep. She knew sometimes Bonnie tried to wait up for her. She planned to stroll to the kitchen to fill her empty belly, but as she passed through the dining room, she noticed both of her lovers knocked out at the table.

Olive eyes blinked several times, thinking they were malfunctioning because it was stunning to see Shego and Bonnie sleeping so close to each other at the table. She smiled a bit as she turned around, going to the linen closet. She grabbed two blankets and limped back to the dining room. A blanket was placed over each resting body before she went to the kitchen. She began fixing a sandwich and she tried to be as quiet as possible, but the small noises caught Shego's attention.

The pale woman groaned a bit as she stirred. Her head was killing her, but she ignored that. She focused on the noise that disturbed her and then noticed the blanket over her. She glanced at Bonnie and saw that she was knocked out and also covered with a blanket. She added that to the noises that she was hearing and concluded one thing.

"Kimmie," Shego breathed and she climbed to her feet.

The green-skinned woman took the blanket off of her and draped it over the chair. She stumbled into the kitchen, her mind hazy from alcohol and sleep. She spotted Kim by the kitchen counter and then she noticed the redhead's appearance. Kim looked like she had been in a gladiatorial battle.

"Princess, are you all right?" Shego inquired as she marched up to the slender hero and collected her in her arms. Kim hissed in pain.

"I'm fine," Kim replied, sounding as if she was telling the absolute truth despite her appearance.

An onyx eyebrow craned. "You look like crap. Are you really all right?"

A small smile was accompanied by a nod. "I'm all right. I just got kicked around a little more than usual and fell down a mountain. I did win, though."

"How are you feeling?"

"Just a little hungry," Kim answered, rubbing her stomach.

Shego nodded and she walked out of the kitchen. She went back to the dining room and shoved Bonnie. The tanned female shot up, awake.

"What the hell?" Bonnie said in a groggy tone. Her eyes were bloodshot and her head hurt, but she was as alert as she could be tonight.

"Kimmie's back. I think she's hurt up some. Look, I'll take a look at her wounds and you make some breakfast since she's hungry," Shego proposed.

"Huh? Okay," Bonnie agreed with a yawn, rubbing her eye with her palm.

The raven-haired female went back to the kitchen and grabbed Kim, who had been about to bite into her sandwich. She let out a whine as she dropped the sandwich and Shego carried her to the living room. She even reached out for her sandwich, but the ex-sidekick continued taking her away from the food. Shego gently placed Kim down on the sofa.

"What are you doing?" Kim demanded, glaring at the older woman. "I said I was hungry and you're keeping me from eating."

"Take off your shirt and show me everything," Shego ordered, motioning to her girlfriend's top.

"Isn't too early for this?" the olive-eyed female remarked with a half-smile to make light of her appearance.

"I'm going to work on your wounds, you mook," Shego explained. She was not looking to play around in case her Princess was seriously injured, even if she did not want to admit it.

Kim did not put up much of an argument, just enough to get Shego heated. The green-skinned woman took care of Kim's wounds, which did need some looking at, even though the battered hero tried to insist otherwise. She was not hurt too badly, but she had some cuts deep enough that they needed attention and there were several large bruises that needed balm.

As soon as Shego was done with things, Bonnie announced that breakfast was ready. Shego was a little impressed that Bonnie worked through her obvious hangover to make breakfast and made a good one. They all sat down at the table and had a relatively quiet breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and toast. They all actually retired to bed afterwards. All three of them shared the queen-sized bed, but when they woke up, it was back to business as usual.

Shego and Bonnie went back to getting on each other's nerves and arguing, even though they could not be as loud as they usually were because they were still feeling the affects of their drinking. They remembered their conversation from last night, but they decided to ignore what they had said. It was not like they bonded and they were not friends.

Yet, every time Kim had a mission and was out too late in their opinions, the pair found themselves back at that table with drinks in their hands. They would discuss Kim and their relationships with her. Every now and then they would let it slip that they were worried about her. Rarely, they even admitted they sort of liked each other, which Kim had guessed long ago.

When the olive-eyed hero came in from missions, Shego and Bonnie took turns as to who would care for Kim and who would handle breakfast or dinner depending on the time. Those breakfasts or dinners were always the calmest meals they had together and then they always retired to the bed together. Fireworks never happened until they were all well rested.

-8-8-8-8-

Kim slept on her side with Bonnie at her back and Shego at her front. It was a position that they seemed to fall into whenever they shared the bed and it took a little getting used to for Kim to be boxed in the way she was. Bonnie had an arm around Kim and Shego had an arm around Kim. Their arms touched because they both were on Kim's waist.

Shego stirred first and smiled a bit at the sight she got to wake up to. Her life the past couple of months with Kim and Bonnie had actually been as good as she could remember for a long time, even with Bonnie's constant bitching. Despite the fact that Bonnie got on her nerves, the tanned female always fed her when she cooked, Bonnie never made any real move to throw her out of the house, even though she yelled about it all of the time, and Bonnie tolerated her presence despite the fact that she was Kim's other girlfriend.  _Bonnie's a lot cooler than she acts_.

The pale woman moved her hand that she had around Kim and noticed how close it was to Bonnie's arm. She curiously ran a finger down the tanned limb. Bonnie's skin was soft, softer than Kim's, which Shego had not thought was possible.  _She feels good, not as good as Kim, but good_.

Shego moved her hand to Kim's face and she caressed Kim's cheek. "This is crazy. I'm sharing my Princess and I honestly don't give a damn. I mean, I hadn't minded before, but… It's just different now. It's something beyond before. I'm content with my life, including Bonnie," she quietly realized.

Her eyes drifted to Bonnie again. The younger woman was tucked in close to Kim, breathing even. It was hard to believe someone like Bonnie could look so peaceful when she was sleeping. It was hard to believe that Bonnie slept.

Shego smiled a little to herself. "Who am I kidding? I suppose I like Bonnie. There's something to her. She's like a shark or something and she's bitten her way under my skin, like Kimmie. Well, except she's torn off chunks of flesh more figuratively than Kim has. She gets my blood boiling like Kim does and I guess I like her for it." It seemed to be the best way to be endearing toward her.

Shego was pulled from her thoughts as Kim began to wake up. The hero leaned into Shego's hand, which was still caressing her cheek. The older female leaned down and placed a small kiss on Kim's lips, which made her open her olive eyes.

"Good morning," the petite adventurer muttered as Shego pulled back just enough to let the redhead talk.

"Yeah, it will be if your banshee stays asleep and I get to have my way with you," Shego commented.

"You're so bad," Kim teased with a small smile.

"You're such a tease," Shego countered and leaned in for another kiss, deeper than the first. The caress of Kim's tongue made Shego's body buzz and she felt like she had waited long enough.

Shego tried pulling Kim closer to her, but she did not want to wake Bonnie or they would have to get into their morning routine. As much as she enjoyed tearing into Bonnie verbally, right now she just wanted to enjoy Kim. She reached down and pulled Kim's leg over her hip and ran her fingers along the underside of Kim's barely clothed leg; the redhead was wearing cut-off sweat shorts. The curious fingers made their way from the leg to the inside of the shorts.

"Shego," Kim hissed quietly, hips surging forward before she could stop them. Taking a deep breath, she got her body back under control. She wanted Shego, had wanted her for a long time, but she could not hurt Bonnie any more than she already. So, until she was certain Bonnie could deal with this, she needed to keep herself in check.

"I want you like she gets to have you," Shego whispered, stroking Kim's thigh.

"I know."

"If this is all fair and equal, I should get to have you like this," the pale woman reasoned.

Kim agreed with that, but it was hard to argue that fact with Bonnie. She doubted things would go over well if Bonnie woke up to find where Shego's fingers were. The fingers that refused to be still were clouding the redhead's mind. It might be even worse because Kim was subconsciously rolling her hips into those intrusive fingers.

Kim then froze as she felt Bonnie moving against her back. Bonnie cuddled up to her shoulder blade and tightened her arm around Kim's waist. The hero stopped breathing, thinking Bonnie might be aware of what was going on.

"Kim," Bonnie whispered and her hand began drifting. Kim could guess where that hand was going and she could only wonder what the hell were the odds of both of her lovers waking up in amorous moods.

"Oh, god," Kim gasped as Bonnie's hand disappeared into her shorts.

"What the hell?" Shego growled as she noticed what Bonnie was doing. "Damn it, can I have my damn moment?" She reached over and shoved Bonnie, which woke the tanned woman up completely.

"What the hell?" Bonnie demanded, automatically glaring at the other brunette in the bed.

"Hey, I was here first," Shego stated, glaring right back.

"What?" Bonnie inquired, forehead wrinkling from her confusion.

"Move your fucking hand. I was here first," Shego ordered with a sneer.

"What the hell? You better not be touching my baby," Bonnie warned the former thief.

"I am touching my Princess and I was here first, so move your fucking hand," Shego commanded.

Kim sighed as the argument raged on. It would seem she was not going to get any attention from either of them, so she removed both of their hands and then sat up. They stopped yelling immediately as they watched Kim crawl out of bed.

"Princess, where are you going?" Shego demanded.

"I'm going to take a shower," Kim answered as if it was obvious.

"No, you're not," Shego said.

The pale woman shot out of the bed, grabbing the retreating redhead before she could get any farther. Carrying Kim back to the bed, she dropped Kim onto the mattress and crawled on top of the smaller female. She pinned Kim to the area by straddling her waist.

"What are you doing?" Bonnie now demanded to know, speaking to Shego.

"It's only fair for me to have her in the same way that you do. Now, excuse me while I screw Kimmie's brains out," the green-skinned female replied with a grin that bordered on maniacal.

"No!" Bonnie objected, moving over to the pair as if to stop Shego.

"Yes. Look, with the way this is worked out, this is only fair. You can't have more of her than I do. It's an equal deal, so stop being such a baby about things. Do you think I throw a fucking tantrum when you sleep with her?" Shego inquired.

"Shego," Kim said.

"No, no, no. Let's just get straight because she needs to get over this. I'm here to stay, she's here to stay, and you're here to stay. Deal with it, Bonnie," Shego huffed.

Bonnie seemed speechless for a moment. Shego had a lot of good points. This was pretty much what she agreed to. She had silently yielded she and Shego would share Kim because it would make Kim happy and it did do that. Bonnie frowned as she came to that conclusion.

The tanned female was not upset with the idea of Shego sleeping with Kim, which she thought she should be. She was actually upset that Shego had beaten her in an argument. The pale woman infuriated her because of her ability to keep arguing and sometimes win. But, it was entertaining, too. If Shego were not around, more often than not, Bonnie would be bored. She would waste her time watching television. She would probably drink more when Kim was out on missions if it was not for Shego because the older woman offered up conversation in between drinks.

Since Bonnie was quiet, Shego decided to get what she thought was owed to her. She leaned down and kissed Kim, who returned the kiss, but watched Bonnie for a reaction. From what Kim could tell Bonnie was not furious with what was happening, so she focused her attention more on the kiss.

Shego was only egged on as Kim returned the kiss with as much heat as she dished out. Shego reached down and lifted off Kim's lilac-colored camisole. They halted the kiss just enough time to be rid of the top. As the kiss was resumed, hotter than ever, Shego began to explore the sea of skin that had once been forbidden to her.

Kim let out small mewing sounds as amatory fingers lightly danced across her torso, spreading the flames of desire as they moved. They started out teasing, taunting, almost punishing, as if to reprimand her for not letting them touch her sooner. They gradually became more lustful and Shego moved on from kissing Kim's mouth to her neck. She would work her way down and savor every little bit of Kim.

Bonnie could not believe this everything was happening while she still sat on the bed. She was hardly inches away from the scene and all she could do was watch. All she wanted to do was watch. She realized almost instantly that she was a voyeur and she did not give a damn. There was something amazing about watching, even if it was her girlfriend. It seemed that because it was her girlfriend that made things better.

Bonnie's heart sped up and her body throbbed with desire. She could not help herself, so she began touching her breasts as she watched Shego pay homage to Kim's own breasts with her mouth and hands. Bonnie throbbed even more as Kim mewed and moaned as Shego's teeth and tongue played with her breasts and taut nipples. The redhead reached up and began to return the favor, massaging Shego's breasts. Soon everyone in the room was making some kind of noise because of the pleasure.

"Harder," Shego begged before tugging at Kim's nipple with her lips.

Kim moaned loudly and tried to oblige. It was difficult to give Shego what she wanted because she was still in her shirt. The tight top restricted Kim's movement, but she did not want to move, not wanting to miss a moment of Shego's wonderful mouth. But, it was a necessary evil.

Kim eventually worked Shego out of the black t-shirt that she wore. Shego then went to remove the redhead's troublesome shorts and her own shorts. Kim loudly moaned as Shego rolled her hips forward. The sound made Bonnie moan, too.

Bonnie handled herself while Shego and Kim were together for the first time. Bonnie was unused to watching Kim writhe on the bottom and it was oddly fascinating. She was accustomed to seeing Kim in control, setting pace and rhythm.

Shego slid her fingers into Kim, causing them both to moan. Kim's back arched as she spread her legs for Shego, who moved to straddle Kim's thigh. With each movement of Shego's fingers, Kim cried out and she clutched or caressed some part of the former villain. Shego rode Kim long and hard, which was expected. They worked up a thin layer of sweat, kissing, licking, and touching everywhere they could. When Shego climaxed, it was clear she had been anticipating this moment for a long time, crying out loudly and collapsing onto Kim.

"It's okay," Kim whispered, giving Shego a light kiss. Shego returned the kiss and seemed to be reenergized from it. Sitting back up, she rubbed herself along Kim's thigh again. Kim gripped her hips, pulling Shego along to another crest.

When it was all said and done, everyone was panting and sweating. Kim turned her attention to Bonnie, who eyed her hungrily. Kim turned the look and then glanced at Shego.

"Go ahead," Shego sighed, smiling despite the fact that she tried to sound annoyed.

Kim grabbed for Bonnie and pulled her down for a kiss. It seemed that everything was not said and done. Kim reached out to caress the tanned female and began crawling out from underneath Shego, which seemed to bother the green-skinned female. Of course, Shego could not be left out of the action and she needed to feel Kim again. Kim took care of Bonnie while Shego took care of Kim again. And then Kim took care of Shego while Bonnie handled Kim.

-8-8-8-8-

Shego lounged on the sofa and for once she was not getting her ear chewed off about it. Bonnie was sleeping and that was why Shego was not getting her daily dose of bitchery. As much as she liked going back and forth with Bonnie, she was glad for a quiet moment to enjoy a movie.

Shego was not the only one on the sofa. Kim was lying on her chest, using her as a pillow. Bonnie was using Kim in pretty much the same fashion. It seemed that they had both had a tough day. Kim was embracing Bonnie in her sleep and Bonnie was doing the same and also touching Shego because of that. The pale female did not mind Bonnie touching her and glanced down at them every now and then while caressing some part of Kim.

"This seems like it might actually work," Shego muttered. Or so she hoped that it would work anyway. Things seemed to work between the three of them and they all did actually like the way things were. Surely, if they worked hard, they could all stay together.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Shego finds herself in serious trouble. Kim and Bonnie get some help from an unexpected ally in aiding Shego.


	2. Sandwiched

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. Disney does. I do however own Isabel.
> 
> Also, since this is so long, there are probably some typos. If you see a typo that so offends you, let me know.

2: Sandwiched 

Bonnie was just done with vacuuming the living room. She planned to leave it for Kim to handle, but the redhead had run out to do some volunteer work with kids in the park and Bonnie would rather have a clean living room now than to wait around. Despite the fact that Kim had bolted, she tended to do more than her fair share of chores or tried to make up for whenever she eased out of a household task.

Bonnie was about to crash on the sofa now that she was done, but a knock at the door stopped that. She knew who it was and went to let the annoyance in. Sighing, she shuffled to the door, mentally preparing for what was about to enter.

“Why the hell don’t you have keys?” Bonnie inquired with a deep scowl as she opened the door for Shego. It was annoying to have to let Shego in every time she popped up. It was not like she really wanted to see the older woman, after all.

Emerald eyes rolled and a scoff escaped Shego. “Because you don’t want to me have any, doy,” the pale woman pointed out as she shut the door behind her. Bonnie could not argue the truth.

“You know, Kim’s going to be gone all day,” Bonnie said with the hope it would get Shego to go away.

“So?” The question was accompanied by a snort.

That time, aqua eyes rolled, even though Bonnie knew Shego would stick around no matter what once she arrived. The green-skinned woman made a beeline right to the living room. Bonnie frowned because she did not want Shego to ruin the room she had just cleaned, but Shego really was not a dirty creature. Bonnie just tended to get upset with Shego no matter what and typically thought the worst of the pale woman.

“Don’t do anything in there,” the tanned female ordered.

“Like what? Watch TV? Oh, no, I’m watching your TV,” the older female replied in a mocking tone, waving her hands around.

“It better not be anything beyond that.”

“Or else what? Now, I’m ordering porn now.”

Bonnie made a face as if something smelled rotten, curling her lip, and was about to rip into Shego, but she heard her cell phone go off. Rushing into the living room, she picked up the phone from the coffee table. She moved in front of Shego as she reached for the phone and the moss-hued former villainess noted the shorts Bonnie wore. The shorts barely covered her curvy ass.

The tanned female answered the phone without noticing emerald eyes that watched her. Bonnie listened carefully to the person on the other end of the line. She nodded and muttered an occasional “uh-huh.” Then suddenly, her demeanor changed and a scowl tore through her face.

“Whoa, time out. Don’t take that deal,” Bonnie ordered whoever it was on the phone.

The way her eyes flashed was intriguing, as if the blue frosted over. Shego swallowed hard at the sight, but Bonnie was too focused on her call to notice. Shego dared to think she could see why Kim was attracted to Bonnie, beyond the obvious of Bonnie being beautiful and fit.

Bonnie paced and frowned more. “No, listen to me, you do not take that deal. I swear, you’d better not make that fucking deal… No, I will kick your fucking ass… Don’t make me leave this house or you’re going to regret it.”

Shego watched as Bonnie continued to rip into whoever it was on the phone. The pale woman was unaware that a small smile had crept onto her face while she watched how heated Bonnie. She then pitied whoever the poor devil was because of Bonnie’s next words.

“Hold on, I’ll be there in a moment. If you make that deal before I get there, I swear to God, you’ll wish you got eaten by rabid dogs instead of what I’m going to do,” Bonnie declared as she started out of the living room and disconnected the call. “Shego, don’t burn the place down while I’m gone,” she called.

“I’ll try my best, Mother,” the raven-haired woman replied as she heard Bonnie charge upstairs, undoubtedly looking to change into some ass-kicking gear.

Yawning and stretching out on the sofa, Shego made herself comfortable. A few minutes later, she heard Bonnie charging back down the stairs and out of the door. Shego settled into her space and enjoyed the silence while watching some movies. _Hopefully, Princess’ll come in soon and we can fool around some before Bonnie comes back in_. Of course, she had never tried to really fool around with Kim without Bonnie around and she was not sure if she would be able to get away with it.

When Shego heard the front door open, she got up to see who it was, but that mystery was cleared up before she hit the hallway. Bonnie called out for Kimmie, but was met by Shego. The older woman stood in the living room entrance and watched Bonnie pull at a tie she wore. She was dressed in a dark blue business suit and seemed to be trying to get out of it as soon as possible.

Annoyance was already in Bonnie's eyes, but seemed to grow when she noticed their “guest” standing there. “You’re still here?” She sighed tiredly and shook her head.

“You should be nice. After all, I have Chinese food,” Shego commented and that caught the other woman’s attention.

“Shrimp?” Bonnie asked with hope in her voice. Her eyes shined.

Chinese food was her weakness and it would seem Shego knew that. It was not hard to miss considering the fact that Kim often brought Chinese food home and Bonnie would always throw herself on the redhead as if Kim had purchased her diamonds. The funny thing was that Kim did not even eat Chinese food and would just sit there and watch while Bonnie dug in. The redhead usually seemed very content when watching Bonnie eat.

“You think I’m sharing with you?” Shego teased, smirking quite wickedly at the younger woman.

“If you have shrimp, you’re sharing or I’m tearing you apart for it,” Bonnie commented in a rather serious tone.

A light, somewhat mocking laugh escaped Shego’s mouth. She went back to the living room while the tanned woman went upstairs to get comfortable. Shego picked up her food and then began eating when Bonnie entered the living room. Bonnie sat down on the far end of the sofa.

The aqua-eyed female looked at Shego when she noticed the older woman had a carton in her hand, so she peered over to the lamp stand next to Shego and saw that there were two more containers. She stood up and went to the boxes. She looked in one and found that it had shrimp and rice. Chopsticks sat next to the boxes. She took that with the chopsticks and went back to her seat. She started eating.

“You know, Kim isn’t going to eat that if she comes in,” Bonnie commented without bothering to look at Shego.

“She will,” the pale woman answered.

Bonnie scoffed. “What makes you think that?”

“Because my Princess does what I tell her to do and she’s going to eat it when I tell her to,” Shego answered as if it was obvious.

Blue eyes rolled. “She isn’t going to eat it.”

“Don’t worry about it. Just eat your food.”

Bonnie frowned, but she dug in again. She was so thankful for the shrimp because of the day that she had. The damned attorney she was working with almost screwed up their whole case, trying to take a deal. _Like hell they’re going to deal when our client was innocent_ , she silently huffed, especially with the flimsy evidence the prosecutors were holding. _Fuck a deal_. She did not operate like that and she damn sure would not let someone else make such a decision while she was on the team.

“What’s with you and cheesy b-movies?” Bonnie asked as she noticed Shego was watching a corny horror flick as she typically did.

“I dunno,” the green-skinned woman answered with a shrug. “I guess since I used to watch them all the time with my little brothers, I just watch them now because it’s a habit.” Her brothers could not get enough of these things and used to love it when she made fun of them.

“You have brothers?” Bonnie asked curiously, giving Shego a sidelong glance.

“Yeah, four annoying ass brothers.”

“So, you don’t like them?” the younger woman guessed.

Shego shrugged. “They’re brothers, you know. Whaddaya gonna do?” she commented with a light laugh. “You can’t kill ‘em, anyway.” Well, she could not kill hers. Her parents would not appreciate it.

Bonnie’s forehead wrinkled. “But, you said you watched movies with them.”

“Yeah, I used to love to look of terror on their faces when the monster or killer showed up. They’re such little geeks,” Shego replied with an amused grin.

Bonnie laughed a little bit. It never occurred to her that Shego might have a family. She wondered what Shego’s family thought of her or what they would think of the green-skinned female if they knew what she was doing now.

“Are you close to your family?” Bonnie asked.

“Nope,” Shego answered, maybe a little too quickly. “Are you cross-examining me, counselor?” the pale woman joked.

“No,” Bonnie replied bluntly and then decided to stop talking to Shego altogether because she did not want it to seem like they were getting along. Besides, it was not like Shego made it easy to speak to her. Bonnie did not want to waste her energy.

They sat there, quietly eating and watching the movie. They heard the door open and close not too long after they settled in. They glanced at each other and then surprised each other by showing some restraint. They did not jump up or run to the door. They remained seated and Kim wandered into the living room. She flopped down into the middle of them.

“So, how’s the day finding you two?” Kim asked with a smile.

She did not get an answer from either of her girlfriends. Bonnie leaned over and gave Kim a small kiss, leaving the taste of shrimp on the redhead’s lips. Before she could get the full effect of the shrimp, Shego came in for her own kiss. By the time Shego was done, Kim tasted fried chicken.

“You two are delicious today,” the redhead remarked and she licked her lips. She was pretty hungry and they had not helped her stomach, which growled loudly.

“Don’t be a wise-ass,” Shego said. “Either of you,” she added, pointing to Kim’s grumbling belly.

“Baby, did you eat anything today?” Bonnie inquired with an arched eyebrow. She knew the answer to that. Kim’s stomach only made that noise when she ripped and ran all day without bothering to pause for at least a snack.

“Nope. I was hoping to come home to something to eat, but from the suspicious way you two taste, I think my hope was misplaced,” Kim replied in a lighthearted tone.

“Not too misplaced,” Shego replied and she handed the olive-eyed hero the remaining box.

Kim grinned as she opened the box. Bonnie expected to see more Chinese food, but that was not the case. Kim’s container held chicken fingers and fries. Bonnie glanced over at Shego, who only smirked in response as if telling the tanned female that she was not the only person that knew what Kim liked. Bonnie rolled her eyes.

The trio eventually lounged on the sofa in their usual fashion. Kim was curled up on Shego and Bonnie was curled on Kim. They watched some war movie with more violence than Bonnie could stand and she was mostly turned away from the television, hiding in Kim’s shoulder. The redhead held Bonnie while trying to convince Shego to turn the channel, not just for Bonnie, but for her, too. She got enough of this stuff on mission.

“I’m not turning. I wanted to see this movie since it came out,” the pale woman replied, tucking the remote under her body.

“Come on, this is extra excessive in gore,” Kim argued, motioning to the television.

“Which makes it good. If I wanted to see realism, I’d go to an underground fight. And what’s with the demon child?” Shego inquired when she noticed how Bonnie hid on Kim. “Demon child” was her nickname for Bonnie.

“She doesn’t like all the blood and guts and the crazy crap going on in this movie, obviously,” the redhead answered with a scoff. “And, quite frankly, I’m not very much in favor of it either, so why are we still watching it?”

“I figured she’d be desensitized to this shit,” Shego said, glancing at Bonnie again.

“No one could be desensitized this. Turn,” Kim stated. 

“No, I want to see it. She can stay hiding while I watch this. Geez, I figure she’d see shit like this when she gets photos of what her clients did in their crimes,” the former thief commented with a frown.

“She’d see worse than this? I’ve seen train wrecks not as bad as this,” the slender hero argued.

Shego chuckled a bit, but she did not change the channel. Kim continued to embrace Bonnie as if to protect her from the imaginary villain in the movie. Shego draped her arms over Kim and occasionally caressed Bonnie, which they all pretended not to notice.

Bonnie quietly noted Shego’s touch was gentle and almost as comforting as Kim’s touch, but not quite there. There was something different about the two martial artists’ caresses, but she could not put her finger on it. They both felt so good, though. _No, no, no. Nothing Shego does feels good_ , Bonnie tried to convince herself. Her body did not agree. 

-*-(New day)-*-

Bonnie came in from grocery shopping and walked into the kitchen. She knew Kim was out on a mission, so she did not bother to call out for her lover. She put the bags down on the counter and happened to glance out of the window. She caught sight of Shego.

Shego had not been there when she left, so she guessed that the pale woman either let herself in or just climbed into the backyard over the fence. Either way, she was not bothered by it. She was accustomed to Shego breaking into the house by now. She supposed she would soon have to concede to Shego getting a key to avoid the neighbors spotting the green-skinned woman entering the house in some illegal manner. While she might not like Shego, she did not want the older woman to go to jail. It would hurt Kim, after all.

She watched Shego move through her katas, much like she would watch Kim do the same. Shego was more deliberant in her movements than Kim typically was. She looked like the definition of power as she went through the motions. And much like when she watched Kim, Bonnie thought the woman moving was sexy.

Bonnie then realized what she thought and she shook it away. Shego was a pest and pests were not sexy. Shego was annoying, obnoxious, and a leech. _And those are her good qualities!_

Bonnie huffed and began unpacking the groceries. As much as she hated to think about it, she had thought on several occasions that Shego was sexy. She wondered why her mind even went there. She hated Shego… right?

 _Of course, I hate Shego_ , Bonnie told herself. She thoroughly detested the woman whom she had to share her beloved with. A woman that brought her nothing but grief as she lounged on their sofa, ate their food, shared their bed, and slept with her lover. A woman whose occasional touch felt almost as good as her beloved’s own sweet caresses. _No_ , Bonnie shook that last thought away.

The tanned female busied herself by putting away the groceries. She occasionally glanced out of the window and took in the sight of Shego, but she tried her best to focus on getting things put away. While she tended to that, Shego finished up with her exercises. She came into the house and went straight for the stairs. Bonnie guessed she was going to take a shower.

Shego sort of lived at the house, as far as Bonnie was concerned. It was not official and, no, Shego did not have a key, but she was there enough. She had clothes in drawers in the bedroom, clothes hanging in the closet, and she shared the bed with Bonnie and Kim most of the time. Bonnie actually had no clue where Shego went to when she left the house and did not see why the pale woman left the house at all.

Bonnie thought it was a little risky for Shego to go out. She was supposed to dead to the world, but with her walking around, surely someone was bound to notice who she was and see she was very much alive. It could mean trouble and it could cost Shego the freedom she seemed to enjoy.

Kim would be devastated if something happened to Shego, Bonnie knew. She remembered how badly Kim was hurt after seeing Shego during their “practices” once a week where it was like a tease because Kim could look, but she did not touch. It seemed like an eternity ago, but Bonnie still remembered the agony she could see in her lover’s eyes after being with Shego, but not being able to _be_ with Shego. She could not imagine how Kim would be if she was not able to even look at Shego.

Actually, Bonnie was not sure what she would do if she would not be able to look at Shego. She had gotten used to having the cover-hogging pest around; yeah, Shego hogged the covers, which Bonnie could not understand since they all knew Shego had a higher body temperature than both she and Kim did. It would be weird to not come home and see Kim and Shego beating each other senseless in the backyard, or not being able to cuddle up on the sofa with both her and Kim, or not having to cook for three. What they had now actually seemed normal and she could not imagine it changing.

Bonnie could not believe the three of them living together seemed normal now that she thought about it. The fact that she was sharing the love of her life with another woman really seemed like the way things should be. _How odd is that?_ _Maybe there’s something wrong with me_ , she considered. _Hell, there’s probably something wrong with all of us_.

She finished putting everything away and she went to watch some television while it was unoccupied. She was going to wait for Kim to call, so she would know when to start dinner. She had never been big into eating alone, so she never made dinner until she knew when Kim would be home. Sure, now Shego was around, but she doubted they would be able to eat a civil dinner without Kim around and she would not want Kim to be left out anyway.

Shego came into the living room and practically spread out on the sofa, even though Bonnie was there. She had the nerve – the tanned female looked at as that anyway – to put her feet in Bonnie’s lap. Bonnie pushed the limbs off of her and Shego did not look too offended. She settled into her spot and rested her hand on her abdomen.

Shego pushed her black tank top up and began rubbing her stomach for whatever reason. Bonnie noticed and found herself watching Shego just pointlessly rubbing her belly. For a few seconds, Shego did not notice that she was being eyed, but when she did notice, she smirked. Bonnie was too focused on the repetitive motion to see she had been busted.

“Like what you see, demon child?” the pale woman inquired. 

Rolling her eyes, Bonnie scoffed. “No. Honestly, I don’t know what Kim sees in you. I’m way better looking.”

Shego laughed a little and her emerald eyes danced with mischief. “Oh, really? Then why do you watch me just as much as Kimmie when I get my turn with her?”

“To make sure you don’t hurt her,” Bonnie replied simply. _Who the hell knows what she might do to Kimmie?_

Shego laughed again and she sat up. “Is that so? Princess probably wouldn’t mind a little pain with her pleasure. But, that’s not why you watch me, is it, demon child? You watch me because you do like what you see.” She leaned forward a little.

Scoffing loudly, Bonnie turned away. “As if.”

The former thief smirked like the Devil himself as far as Bonnie was concerned. The older woman then moved, leaning toward Bonnie, like a stretching cat, which caused the tanned female to gulp. Shego stopped when she was less than an inch from Bonnie’s face.

“You watch me because you want me, too,” Shego commented in a whispering purr. She was having fun watching Bonnie sweat because of how close they were at the moment. They had never been so close without Kim being between them and one of them trying to kill the other.

“You wish,” Bonnie replied with steel in her voice, which belied the fact that she was nervous. What if Shego did what it looked like she was going to do? What would she do?

“Admit it, demon child. You watch me because you like what you see. Don’t you want to touch me like Kimmie does? Because we all know I’m damn sexy,” the raven-haired female stated.

Bonnie waved her words off. “You’re too full of yourself.”

A deep chuckle escaped Shego as she smirked. “Oh, so you don’t like me? Tell that lie again.”

Shego leaned in a little close and whispered her words again, her breath crawling over Bonnie’s suddenly hypersensitive skin. Bonnie felt like the temperature in the room had risen beyond tropical levels. She just chalked it up to Shego being so close with her irregular body temperature. She had no explanation to why her heart pounded her in her chest with such a heavy tattoo, though.

The ex-villainess smirked. She had Bonnie so tense and she thoroughly enjoyed it. She decided to take things a bit further and little did she know that it would be too far.

Shego leaned in and kissed Bonnie. The tanned woman’s turquoise eyes opened as wide as they could; she looked like a deer in headlights. She was shocked beyond belief, but she did not push Shego away. In fact, she returned the kiss.

The pale woman realized too late that what she had done was no joke, especially when Bonnie started kissing her back. She did not stop there, either. She just went in for more, lapping at Bonnie’s luscious lips for entry to her mouth, which was granted. Shego tried to take control of the kiss, but Bonnie would not let her. They fought with each other over control of the searing embrace, each giving as good as they got.

When they pulled away, their chests were heaving as they sucked in some much needed air. Bonnie then bit her lip as she looked at Shego, who was licking her lips. Had they really just done that? Yes. Had it really just felt that good? Yes. Did it have a spark like it did when they kissed Kim? Oddly, enough, yes.

They stared at each other, both silently contemplating what they had just done. And the first thing they both actually wondered was: _did that kiss count as cheating?_ Yes, they shared a girlfriend, who was allowed to kiss both of them… well, who was allowed to be kissed by both of them since Kim was now unofficially banned from starting anything remotely romantic. But, it was never agreed upon that they could do anything together.

The next thing on their minds was equally confusing and it was the fact that the kiss had felt good and somewhat fulfilling. It went beyond the lust they had both been hiding deep within themselves and trying their best not to acknowledge. Yes, they had noticed they liked looking at each other, but since they believed they hated each other with a passion, they would rather ignore the thoughts that tried creeping through their minds that the other was attractive. It was frightening to consider there was more than just the physical attraction when they did not even want to acknowledge that that existed.

What were they supposed to do now if all of that lovely hatred was actually something else? Detesting each other made sense to them. They saw each other as rivals, rivals for Kim, even though it did not seem like either one of them was coming out ahead. It would not make any sense for them to have feelings for each other, though. They only knew how to hate each other.

“Okay, let’s make this clear,” Shego said, somehow managing to keep her voice even. She patted the air, needing to move her hands.

“What?” Bonnie asked.

“That didn’t happen and it didn’t mean anything,” she replied, holding up one finger.

Bonnie nodded in total agreement. That kiss never happened and everything it told them was not reality. They hated each other. That was the way things were supposed to be, they silently decided. It made sense in their not-so-carefully ordered world. And then, they were back at each other.

The pair collided with more force than they intended, but neither party was injured in the meeting. The new kiss was more heated than the first and they were hardly shy as they began groping each other. A green hand made its way to Bonnie’s rump while a tanned hand made its way to Shego’s breast. Tongues continued to duel for control as hands squeezed supple flesh.

Shego knew if she were Kim, Bonnie would have surrendered almost as soon as things got started. Yet, with her, Bonnie did not budge an inch. It was not something she was used to because Kim folded for her eventually when in Bonnie’s current position. It did tell her, though, that Bonnie was not mistaking her for or pretending she was Kim. Bonnie knew exactly who she was with and who she was doing things with. Since she knew that, she made sure Shego knew, too.

For something that had not felt like lust before, it certainly felt that way now, which they supposed was better than whatever the hell they felt before. It was more comfortable to feel lust because they could rationalize that. They were two attractive women that were attracted to women, so it was logical for them to be attracted to each other. Plus, they had all of this fire built up in them toward each other. This was far more logical than that other thing they had felt earlier.

Shego started undoing the buttons on Bonnie’s shirt; she was still dressed in her street clothes. She caressed the tanned torso that was revealed to her when she got all the buttons unhooked. Bonnie moaned as those skilled, greedy fingers traveled her body with almost tangible hunger. It would seem Shego had wanted her for longer than she let on.

The former thief practically ripped the shirt from Bonnie’s shoulders. Once the irksome cloth was gone, Shego moved from Bonnie’s mouth to her neck. The aqua-eyed woman moaned again, much louder than before. She held Shego’s mouth to her skin, which the ex-villainess did not seem to mind at all.

Shego remained where she was held while her hand snaked up and began working on fleshy regions up north. Her other hand began seek out the snap to Bonnie’s bra and as soon as that was undone, Bonnie seemed to be reluctant with what was happening. It was like a switch went off in her head and she pulled way from Shego. The moss-hued woman looked completely shocked.

“What the hell are you doing?” Shego demanded in a pant. God, she was all worked up now and then the damn demon child had the nerve to halt everything.

“Is this right?” Bonnie wondered out loud as she reached for her shirt. Her eyes looked around frantically, even when she had the cloth in her hand.

Shego let loose a long breath, running a hand through her hair, if only to help it forget how good Bonnie’s skin felt. “What?”

“Is this right?” the younger woman repeated. Usually right and wrong did not mean much to her. Like Shego, she was typically into what she wanted and what she did not want. It was just that her question tied into what she wanted and what she did not want.

“What do you mean ‘is this right’? What’s wrong with it?” Shego inquired, still trying to catch her breath.

“Kim doesn’t know,” Bonnie answered while slipping back into her bra and shirt. She fastened both items back into place faster than she thought she could.

“Okay, so Kim doesn’t know.”

“Right, so is this right? Can we actually do this without letting her know? That’s not fair to her. She’s always honest with us, even when we don’t want to hear it. I mean, I didn’t want to know she loved you, but she was honest and told me because that was the right thing to do. I’m sure it was the same with you. I mean, look, usually, I wouldn’t give two damns about doing something wrong if it’ll be good for me, but this might not be good for either of us.”

Shego nodded and focused her eyes on the floor, needing to calm down and think. If they did something like that without telling Kim, it would not be right. Kim would never do something like that to one of them. Hell, even now, Kim tried to keep things balanced between them and tried not to show favor to either of them to keep everything in order. Kim was still careful with what she did with one of them to make sure that the other did not feel insulted or neglected. If they did something like what they were going to do without telling Kim, the redhead might be the one left feeling neglected because it would seem like they were trying to hide something from her when she was always open with them.

“You think we could lose Kim over something like this?” Shego asked, hand in her hair again. She scratched the top of her head.

Bonnie shook her head and settled into her seat. “If we don’t go about this the right way, I would think it’s possible.” 

“It’d be stupid, though. She is with both of us, anyway,” the pale woman pointed out, throwing her hands up.

“Yes, she is with both of us. But, we’re only with her. If we do this without telling her, it’s like going behind her back. This would be cheating,” the tanned woman concluded.

Shego laughed a bit. “Hard to believe you could cheat on a woman with two girlfriends already, isn’t it?” she asked with an amused smile.

“It is a bit weird and silly when you put it that way. Still, it would be best for us to talk about this with Kim. Speaking of Kim, what time is it?” Bonnie asked as she glanced around for a clock.

“Late,” Shego replied. 

“I was waiting for her to call to see when I should start dinner…”

“Don’t get worried. She can do anything, after all. She’s probably fine, having fun busting up someone’s doomsday device or something like that,” Shego said because she knew the panicked look that hid in those hard turquoise eyes of Bonnie. She did not need Bonnie panicking because that led to her drinking.

Personally, Shego believed Bonnie drank too much when she got worried, which also led to Shego drinking more than she liked to because she sat there with Bonnie. Now, Shego was not without her vice, but she also respected her body and did not like to damage it too much for the sake of pleasure or peace of mind. She did not like to see anyone destroy their body, especially Bonnie.

“But… it’s been so long…” Bonnie whispered as she stared at the clock. She silently prayed her baby was all right and not lying dead at the foot of some mountain somewhere or decaying in a body of water or injured from some madman’s weapon.

“Give her time,” Shego replied while wrapping her arms around Bonnie and being surprisingly comforting. It was not the first time that she had done such a thing, but it was the first time that the action was not accompanied by teasing words.

Bonnie just accepted the embrace. She wished she could be as strong as Shego. She knew Kim was an amazing person, but she still got so concerned when the redhead was out too late. She wished she could just have faith like Shego.

The pale woman was not as strong as she pretended to be. For some reason, though, she felt the urge to keep up the front, not because she did not want to appear weak in front of Bonnie, but for Bonnie’s sake. She told herself it would at least keep the attorney away from the liquor cabinet and it would make Kim happy that one of her lover’s did not drink herself into an early grave.

They settled into their spots on the sofa and Shego continued to hold Bonnie. They tried not to think about how nice it felt or how worried they were about Kim. _When the hell did we get this close?_ They both wondered this and neither had an answer. All they did was yell at each other when they were interacting. Shego made it a point to annoy Bonnie as if she got paid for it and Bonnie bitched at Shego like no one’s business. The only change to their behavior was that sometimes Shego would tease Bonnie. Relationships were not supposed to grow that way… right?

 _Well, no_ , they both conceded. They had both gotten close to Kim through antagonistic behavior. It was not the same for both of them because Shego had been genuine with her dislike at first while Bonnie had been more jealous or maybe even envious of Kim. Whatever it was in the beginning, it had changed to what it was now. Could that happen between them? Could it have already happened and they just did not realize it? Why would it happen, though?

They tried to assure themselves that they only saw each other as annoyances, but it was hard to do when they clutched each other like buoys in the middle of the sea. It felt good to hold onto and be held by the other. They silently admitted they could not picture life without the other. _I’m used to her_. It was strange, whatever it was.

The feelings they were slowly acknowledging were different from what they felt for Kim. So, did that mean it was not love? That was hopeful. They would rather not love each other. It was fun to dislike each other and to disagree and to get a charge out of each other. But, it was also nice to be as they were at the moment. Could they like and dislike each other at the same time then? They were not sure.

“Shego,” Bonnie said in a low voice.

Green eyes glanced down at the bundle in her arms. “Yeah?”

“How do you think Kim knows she loves both of us?”

“I asked her once,” Shego replied. She had asked Kim about it when the redhead told her the first time that she loved both of them. Shego wanted to understand how that was possible, even though she had still been mad as hell after the slender hero explained things. It had not made sense to her then.

Bonnie managed to cuddle a little closer. “What did she say?”

“Well, she said she knows because she would do anything for both of us, whether it was jump in front of a bullet, swim the English Channel, or just offer up a pleasant kiss after a hard day. She said we both gave her an odd, but warm feeling just by being around. She said being in our arms let her know she was safe and cared for and she could trust us with anything. And if she never got to see one of us again, she would never be the same,” Shego explained.

Bonnie nodded and she thought on that information. She could relate those answers to what she felt with Kim. _Is it the same with Shego, though?_ She would never think to offer Shego a pleasant kiss like she would for Kim, but she got a weird, warm feeling from the pale woman right now and it had nothing to do with that irregular body temperature. She also felt safe in Shego’s arms, cared for, and even like she could trust the green-skinned woman, which would explain why she showed her more vulnerable side, which used to be only shown to one Kim Possible. She doubted her life would ever be the same without Shego, but she chalked that up to the fact that her baby would be miserable.

Shego pondered the information, too. Like Bonnie, she could relate the answers to what went on in her mind when it came to Kim. If things were dire, she could see herself taking a bullet for Bonnie or something like that, but she would not do the little things for Bonnie, but that was only because she liked annoying Bonnie. She had a strange feeling going on right now since she held the tanned female. Shego tried her best to pretend that no person on the planet ever made her feel safe, cared for, or that she could trust them. But, honestly, she did not feel safe with Bonnie and she did not expect to feel that.

For some reason, Shego felt like she had to protect Bonnie. A protector was not supposed to feel safe around the person she guarded. She supposed she felt that way because Bonnie was not a warrior like she and Kim were. There was also the fact that she had seen the way Kim cuddled Bonnie and it just seemed like Bonnie was a jewel to be watched over.

 _Did I trust Bonnie?_ _Hell, yeah_. She felt like that could not even be disputed. After all, she came over to the house everyday and Bonnie did not call the police on her. Bonnie was one of the very few people that still knew she was alive. She was not bothered that Bonnie knew either.

She did not even want to think about what life would be like if she never saw Bonnie again. Who would she go back and forth with in pointless arguments? Not to mention how Kim would become something of a killjoy if Bonnie were no longer around. It was horrible to think of Kim looking like the light had gone out in her world. And, maybe the world would be a little less fun without Bonnie.

So, did that mean that they loved each other or were working their way to loving each other? They told themselves it was impossible. It seemed Kim had thrown out a rather broad answer that could apply to someone that they were just used to having in their lives. _Yeah, that’s it,_ they both thought.

Before they had another chance to convince themselves that they were not falling for each other, they heard the door open. They knew it was Kim, so they pulled away from each other and stood up. They walked to the living room entrance and caught sight of Kim’s silhouette in the dark hall.

Kim quietly closed the door behind her because she thought her lovers were asleep. She placed her keys down on a near by table and started to limp toward the kitchen, hoping to get something for her empty belly. She did not notice two pair of jeweled eyes on her as she struggled toward the kitchen.

“She’s hurt,” Shego whispered because she knew that wounded stride all too well.

“Baby,” Bonnie called out.

“Huh?” Kim said and she turned her attention to the living room. She forced a grin out for her beloveds. “I thought you two would be asleep,” she said in a low tone.

Shego did not like the sound of Kim’s voice. She marched over to Kim and gathered the redhead in her arms. Kim yelped because of the surprise, but that was short-lived as she hissed in pain because of the way that she was folded. Shego rapidly took Kim into the living room into some better light for her to get a good look at the redheaded hero and see why she was trying so hard to pretend that she was all right.

The green-skinned woman placed Kim down on the sofa and Bonnie gasped when she got a look at their girlfriend. Kim’s entire face was bruised and dirty. Her clothing was torn and stained with blood. She was even missing a shoe. She looked like she had jumped out of a plane and forgot to pack her parachute.

“What the hell?” both Bonnie and Shego said for lack of a better thing to open with.

“It’s not as bad as it looks,” Kim replied, holding up her hands as if to ward off her lovers.

“The fuck it is,” Shego commented, motioning down to the prone hero.

“Are you hurt, baby?” Bonnie inquired in a bit of a panic. What if Kim was bleeding internally? What if she broke something was and ignoring it? What if they needed to act fast or there would be some irreparable damage to Kim? There were so many “what ifs” and they flooded Bonnie’s mind.

“I’m fine,” Kim lied and held in a wince as she tried to get up. She did make a pained face, though and that was enough for her lovers. She flopped back down on the sofa, not having the strength to move.

“Hospital?” Shego asked Bonnie.

“Hospital,” Bonnie agreed.

“No! I’m fine, really!” Kim insisted. She tried to get up even more this time and fell back, hissing in agony. Shego’s face scrunched up as she tried to figure out why the hell Kim was hurting herself by trying to move.

“She hates hospitals,” Bonnie informed Shego.

“Really? Never would’ve guessed that one,” the pale woman admitted. She figured Kim had probably seen a lot of hospitals in her life and it had nothing to do with her mother being a brain surgeon.

“Look, I’m fine, really. I mean, I throw an ACE bandage on and I’ll be fine,” Kim swore, gritting her teeth.

“You can’t even move,” Shego pointed out with a scowl. “What the hell are you even throwing an ACE bandage on?” 

“Baby, you’re going to the hospital. I don’t think you’ve seen yourself,” Bonnie said, shaking her head as she took in the sight.

“I haven’t, but I know I’m all right,” Kim persisted. Her breathing became heavier as she tried to move again. She was not going anywhere, but she was definitely hurting herself in trying to go somewhere.

“You grab her and I’ll start the car,” Bonnie told Shego.

The pale woman nodded, soundly in agreement with that plan. Bonnie went to grab her keys while Shego went to grab Kim. As they thought about it, it probably would have been better for Bonnie to get Kim and for Shego to start the car because Bonnie would have tried to reason with Kim while Shego was going to simply threaten her.

“Princess, let’s just go to the hospital,” Shego said civilly, even though she was already planning moves in her head once Kim objected.

“I don’t need to,” Kim replied.

“Don’t make me make you,” Shego said.

“You’ll make me go to the hospital?” Kim scoffed. Shego had no idea how much she hated the hospital it would seem.

Shego frowned. She had to be careful because the redhead was obviously hurt, but she was not going to let Kim get away with just being injured because she had a dislike of hospitals. She rushed Kim to grab her, but the slender hero actually dodged. The only thing was that Kim moved on an already sore ankle. She fell to the floor and hissed in pain.

“That was easy,” Shego muttered as she bent down to lift Kim into her arms.

“No,” Kim grumbled and she tried to push out of her pale lover’s arms, but she only hurt her own limbs. Each move made her wince and flinch, but she kept trying.

Shego shook her head and carried Kim out to the car. She was about to put Kim in the back and sit in the front with Bonnie, but something told her that was a bad idea. She decided to stay in the back with the redhead just in case Kim’s dislike of hospitals went to the point that she might do something stupid, like jump out of the car at a light. While it sounded crazy, she could see Kim trying it. Bonnie peeled off as soon as they were in the car and hit the neighbor’s trashcans on the way out of the driveway.

“Bonnie, baby, you don’t have to drive so fast. I’m fine,” Kim insisted. She wished Shego had rode shotgun because she certainly would have hopped out of the car at the first red light. She might be able to lose them at the hospital if she got a distraction or if there was an open window, though.

“I’ve heard that before and then when I took you to the hospital they found out you cracked all six of your left ribs,” Bonnie replied.

“That was once,” the redhead argued.

“You know, some people go their entire lives never having to say that,” Bonnie replied, throwing one hand up.

“Still, it was once!”

Bonnie snorted. “Do I need to go down the list of hyper extensions you’ve had?”

“Baby,” Kim pled.

“You’re going to the hospital, end of argument,” Bonnie declared.

Kim huffed, but she did not open her mouth. She knew better than to do that. Instead, she made sure Bonnie and Shego knew she resented what they were doing with the expression on her face. It did not get her any sympathy from the pair and they arrived at the emergency room anyway. The thing was Kim now was not getting out of the backseat.

“Princess, stop acting like a fucking baby,” Shego growled as she tried to yank Kim out of the car without hurting her further.

“Shego, let me handle this one,” Bonnie said.

Shego huffed and backed away. Bonnie crawled into the backseat and whispered something into the redhead’s ear that Shego was not able to hear. Kim’s face showed interest and then her shoulders dropped. It would seem Kim Possible was defeated and Bonnie exited the car, the victor.

“What did you say to her?” the green-skinned woman asked curiously. 

“Maybe you’ll find out one day, but you have to remember I had to get her to come to the hospital long before you showed up and I couldn’t just carry her into the car,” Bonnie replied with a smirk.

Shego arched an eyebrow to that as Kim slowly crept out of the backseat and began limping toward the emergency room entrance. Shego walked behind Kim to make sure she did not try to run at the last minute while Bonnie walked at Kim’s side.

As it turned out, they were right to take Kim to the hospital. She was admitted, examined, and then placed in a bed after being worked on. Her major injury was the fact that she dislocated her shoulder and had not set it, but a doctor took care of that. Her ankle, which was discolored and swollen, was wrapped and her bruises were treated and bandaged. She frowned while her lovers looked at her with those “I toldja so” faces. _Screw them and their damned smug faces_ , she huffed mentally as she tried to burrow into her hospital bed. Kim scowled because it was impossible to get comfortable. _Damn hard, stupid hospital bed_.

“Don’t look like that, baby,” Bonnie said as she sat next to the bed and caressed Kim’s forehead.

“You’re going to leave me here, too,” Kim grumbled, turning her head away from Bonnie.

“Baby, that was just that once,” Bonnie said.

“You said you weren’t going to leave,” the redhead pouted. She would never leave Bonnie some place she hated and they both knew that because on those “family days” that Bonnie had, Kim suffered right with her through them, even if she got called for a mission.

“I’m not going to leave,” the tanned woman promised.

“So, you think you pulled enough muscles this time around?” Shego asked Kim sarcastically. She wanted to be included on this. It stung to feel like a third wheel with her own girlfriend.

“I’m actually fine. They’re not hurting… too much,” Kim replied, glancing down at her very injured body.

“You’re hurt, end of argument. Baby… I know this is a lot to ask… but, do you think you could stop taking these missions now?” Bonnie requested.

The aqua-eyed female knew she was asking a lot of Kim, but Kim owed her rather big now. She was requesting her lover to give up part of her identity, though. Kim Possible was the big hero that saved the day to most of the world. Hell, even to Shego, as far as Bonnie could tell. But, Kim was more than that to her and she did not want to lose the redhead to a mission.

Kim stared at Bonnie. She had wondered when that request would come. She always wondered how she would respond to it. Shego was now curious, too. It was hard to imagine Kim giving up her missions for any reason, even if she got hurt on occasion.

“Bonnie, you know I don’t mean to worry you like I do. I know this is all troublesome for you and everything,” Kim started.

Bonnie and Shego were already waiting to hear Kim explain why she could not give up her missions. They expected her to come up with all sorts of excuses about helping people and all of that other selfless crap that would never cross their minds. Whatever she said, it was undoubtedly going to crush Bonnie, they figured.

“I guess, I’ll have to give it up then,” Kim commented with a shrug. She would do anything to make Bonnie happy, after all.

“What?” Bonnie and Shego asked because they were certain that they had heard wrong.

“I don’t like you worrying about me. I hate that you drink so much when you worry. I don’t like causing you grief. I only want to be the one that makes you smile,” the redhead replied, struggling to reach up to caress Bonnie’s cheek.

And smile Bonnie did. She had waited for so long for Kim to stop doing all of that dangerous freelance hero business. She leaned over to Kim and placed a pleased kiss on the redhead’s mouth. Kim tried to sit up into the kiss, but it hurt too much and Bonnie started backing away, which did not help.

“Well, since we got that out the way… not that I knew it was an issue… let’s talk about something else,” Shego commented.

“Like what?” Kim asked. 

“This afternoon?” Bonnie guessed.

“Yeah,” Shego answered.

“What happened this afternoon?” Kim asked curiously, looking back and forth between the two.

“Baby…” Bonnie started, but she was not sure how to explain it.

“Look, we’re sharing you, but now we want you to share us,” Shego stated soundly. There was no reason to sugarcoat it in her opinion.

“Share you?” Kim echoed in a puzzled tone. Who would she share them with? Maybe the concussion was confusing her.

“Look, this afternoon, Shego and I… sort of… well… we kissed,” Bonnie confessed, which got Kim’s attention.

“And it would’ve probably gone further than that,” Shego added.

“And we stopped because we wanted you to know about it, like you would do with us if the situation was reversed,” Bonnie said.

Kim nodded to that information, hoping she understood correctly. She had not seen that one coming. She knew her lovers did not hate each other as much as they pretended, but she had not expected them to kiss each other or possibly do more than that. She was not sure what to say.

“So… are you going to do it again and can I watch?” Kim inquired with a smile. It would be totally unfair of her to say anything else and she would not mind watching for once. They seemed to get a kick out of it. Shego laughed a bit, as did Bonnie.

“Maybe when you’re out of the bed and can stand a huge shock to your system,” Shego remarked.

“You two are so unfair,” Kim pretended to whine. 

“No one told you to go out and get all hospitalized,” the pale woman remarked.

Kim was about to make a comeback, but her stomach spoke up before she could and it spoke loudly. They all looked at Kim’s bandaged belly and then they turned their attention to her. She grinned sheepishly.

“When was the last time you ate?” Bonnie inquired with a sigh. She knew the answer to the question and it made Kim very lucky to be in the hospital already.

“When you made breakfast this morning,” Kim answered honestly and the tanned woman sighed.

Bonnie put her hand over her face for a second. “Baby, we have talked about this.”

“I’ll go get you some junk food,” Shego volunteered and she walked off before either of them could argue.

“I think we made her feel left out,” the redhead commented.

“Well, it’ll happen from time to time,” Bonnie said. They were not all going to share the same experiences and life was more interesting because of that. _What would we have to talk about if we all did the same things together all the time?_

“I’m sorry if we do that to you sometimes.”

Scoffing, the turquoise-eyed lawyer shook her head. “Don’t be. You two leave me out of stuff I actually want to be left out of. I don’t think it’s fun to get beaten up in the backyard, after all.” She meant that. Almost everything Kim did with Shego, she was glad to not be part of the mix. They invited her and everything, but she always declined.

Kim chuckled a little and shrugged. “I wonder what I’ll get left out of now.”

“What do you mean? We always pay attention to you.”

Kim laughed again, louder than before, even though it hurt her stomach so much. “No, you don’t. When you two get into arguments, you don’t even notice I’m there. I’ve left the room a few times and you never notice.”

“Really?” Bonnie inquired in disbelief.

“Yeah, it’s no big deal,” Kim replied. 

“This might be a bit more difficult than I thought,” Bonnie muttered. She had always assumed Kim was the center of her world, but if Kim could leave the room and she did not even notice, then something was off. Very off.

“It’s all right. As long as we try to make it work, it should all right,” Kim declared with a bright smile. Always the optimist and that made Bonnie feel better about things. The tanned female just nodded in agreement. 

-8-8-8-8-

Shego strolled through the hospital, looking for a vending machine. She silently admitted to herself she felt a bit left out. The hospital run reminded her that Bonnie and Kim had a life together before she stepped in the door. She wanted to have moments with them like they had with each other.

She found a machine and silently wondered if one day, she would have moments with Bonnie and Kim like that had with each other. It would be nice to have those moments, to feel like she belonged somewhere with people for who she was and rather than for what she could do. It had been a long time since she had that. She hated to think she was starting to understand Kim a little better because she wanted to be with both of them.

She sighed as she went into her pocket for some money. She failed to notice someone watching her out of the corner of his eye. She purchased a few chocolate bars and started back to Kim’s bed. She did not even realize she had sparked someone’s interest. The person knew better than to follow her, not that it mattered. She had such a distinct look he did not need to follow to confirm who she was.

Shego went back to Kim’s room and tossed the redhead a candy bar, which Kim thoroughly appreciated. She also tossed Bonnie some candy, which the attorney accepted. They sat around eating candy for a while. Occasionally, someone from the hospital staff came to check on the redheaded patient.

“Um… so… you guys are going to take me home tonight, right?” Kim asked in a hopeful tone with the most adorable smile that she could muster.

“Not on your life, Possible,” Bonnie answered bluntly.

“They want you overnight, so you’re staying overnight,” Shego added and Kim groaned.

“Yeah, I bet you wish you didn’t have the two of us now. You might have had a chance to sweet talk one of us into taking you home,” Bonnie teased.

“That is just so not right,” the petite hero pouted.

“What’s your problem with hospitals anyway, Princess?” Shego asked curiously.

“I don’t want to talk about,” Kim answered while shaking her head.

“When she was little, she jumped off the roof of her house and broke her arm,” Bonnie started and she glanced at Kim to make sure it was all right for her to continue. The olive-eyed female did not say anything, so Bonnie took it as a sign to tell the story. “She went to the hospital to get her arm set and everything. She wandered off as little Kimmie often did and ended up in a room with an old man. She talked to him for a few minutes and he was nice and everything. And then suddenly, all of the machines in his room started making noises and, as Kim put it, he stopped talking. Nurses and doctors filled the room and they didn’t notice her as they tried to revive him. Kim stood there the whole time and watched him die. She hasn’t liked the hospital since.”

Shego nodded and tried her best to keep her face neutral. She supposed it was a valid reason. It sounded like something that Kim would go through. She wondered how little Kim dealt with such a trauma. Probably kept moving to put it out of her mind.

“So… I guess you never went with your mom to work, huh?” Shego managed to say, a half-smile forced on her face to try to make it seem like she was teasing.

“Never again,” Bonnie answered for Kim, proving this was a very sore subject. Instead of trying to push, Shego looked to Bonnie, hoping she could save this.

To pass the time and since Bonnie had already opened the door with the hospital story, she decided to keep in that vein without the troubling bit. “I went to the hospital once. I sprained my ankle really badly at ballet and my mother thought I broke it.”

Shego laughed. “Leave it to you to get hurt dancing.”

From that, they all talked about things from their childhoods that resulted in trips to the hospital. Bonnie did not have anything on Kim and Shego in that department, but she did have enough siblings to share their horror stories too. Before they knew it, it was morning and the sun was high in the sky.

“Look at the time,” Bonnie said with a yawn. She stretched out her arms and bowed her back, hoping to get a kink out of it from the hard chair she had been perched in all night.

“Shit, is it that time already?” Shego wondered aloud as she looked at Bonnie’s watch.

“Yup,” the tanned woman confirmed. “I’ve got a meeting I need to get to in an hour.”

“I knew it,” Kim said in an accusing tone, glaring at her lawyer lover.

“What?” Bonnie asked.

“You’re leaving me here,” the redhead complained.

“Well, I’ve got work. Shego’s here,” Bonnie replied.

“Actually…” Shego started and looked away for a moment. “I’ve got some place I need to be in about an hour, too.”

“Fine, I’m getting out of here,” Kim declared and she started to sit up. There was no way in hell she would stay in a hospital with no one around. She was not sure what the problem was, if she thought that she would die if she were left alone or along those lines, but she would never stay in a hospital by herself.

“Baby, lay back down before you hurt yourself,” Bonnie ordered, pointing to the hero.

“I’m not staying,” Kim insisted, scowling at Bonnie.

The aqua-eyed female turned to her attention to Shego. “Shego, please, stay with her. She just wants company while she’s here.”

“Well, I guess I could stay for a little while,” the pale woman yielded. She did not want Kim to skip out and hurt herself further. She also disliked Kim being in obvious distress.

“All right, you stay for the morning and I’ll come back as soon as I’m done with my meeting so you can go do what you need to do, all right?” Bonnie bargained.

“Deal,” Shego stated.

“Good. Bye, baby,” Bonnie said and she gave Kim kiss.

The lawyer hesitated to leave after that, though. She glanced at Shego and wondered if it would be all right for her to kiss Shego, too. Kim had said so and she doubted that her baby lied. Before she could come to a clear decision, Shego acted. The green-skinned female leaned in and kissed Bonnie right on the mouth. The tanned female seemed a bit shocked by it, but recovered quickly.

“You two be good,” Bonnie said and then she exited the room. Shego turned her attention to Kim.

“So, you’re really okay with this?” the pale woman asked Kim, nodding toward the retreating lawyer.

Kim squinted as she stared at Shego. “Okay with what?”

“Well, me and Bonnie for one and not doing the hero thing for another?” Shego inquired.

“How can I not be okay with you and Bonnie when you two are okay with me and, well, you two? I just hope you really care about her, Shego. I don’t want you to hurt her. She’s very dear to me,” Kim replied.

“I know… I know how you feel…” Shego admitted in a mumble. Suddenly, Bonnie was very dear to her, too. It might have started out that way just because Bonnie was baggage that came with Kim, but now she was a person. A person Shego felt like she had to protect, not for Kim, but for herself.

“And to think, you once wondered how I did it,” Kim commented, referring to how she could be in love with two people. 

“Don’t be smug about it, Princess.” She moved her chair closer to the bed. “So, what about the hero thing?”

“It’s actually been on my mind for a while. I always knew Bonnie hated it and she just put up with it because it was something that came along with me. Maybe I was just waiting for her to ask. I dunno. I guess I figured as long as she pretended to put up with it, I could keep going. I really should’ve stopped a long time ago. I hate how I worry her, but I want to help so badly.”

“I think she knows that, which is probably why she never asked. So, you’re going to have a lot of free time on your hands. What are you going to do?” Shego asked curiously. She wondered how long Kim would last with all this free time on her hands. Kim was a mover, a doer, a helper. Those missions were who she was. How long would she last without them?

Kim shook her head. “Not underground street fighting that’s for sure and you might want to consider quitting that one since it’ll just worry Bonnie.”

“She’s a worrywart,” the moss-hued woman remarked.

“Well, she doesn’t know what else to do because what else can she do? It’s not like she can fly to a jungle to check up on me, which I’m glad for. If she could, then I’d worry,” the redhead commented, rubbing her forehead for a second with the arm not in a sling. Even that hurt to move, despite the painkillers she had been given a couple of hours ago.

“So, what are you going to do?” the former thief asked once again.

“Well, I’ve got my photography and I’ve got my degree in anthropology.” 

Shego’s face fell. “You’re kidding, right? An anthropology degree?”

“I never told you about my degree, did I? It doesn’t really come up when we’re fighting,” Kim realized with a bit of a laugh.

“Not really. Anything else you want to tell me?” Shego inquired.

Kim smiled and then started going through a list of things that she was sure she had neglected to tell Shego through out the time that they had known each other. It was not much and, honestly, Shego was not very interested in many of the things. It was just nice to know everything that she could about her lover.

“What about you?” Kim asked. “What don’t I know about you?”

“Well, you know about my college degree. Well, one of them anyway.”

“One of them?”

Shego shrugged. “I double majored.”

Nodding, Kim chuckled. “For some reason, I can see you doing it.”

After a couple of hours, Bonnie returned as promised. She came with breakfast too, which both martial artists were thankful for, even though it put an end to their conversation. They all ate together and then Shego got up, announcing that she had to leave. She kissed both younger women and walked to the door, but Kim stopped her before she could leave completely.

“Where are you going anyway?” the redhead asked.

“Gotta see my mom,” Shego replied and she left the area.

“Her mom?” Bonnie echoed with an arched eyebrow.

“I don’t know,” Kim said with a shrug, well as much as she could shrug with a dislocated shoulder. Shego still had a few surprises up her sleeve. 

-8-8-8-8-

Shego arrived at her mother’s house and was ushered in. She usually showed up earlier than she did that day. She typically spent a day with her mother about every two weeks because her mother was the only person, aside from Kim and Bonnie that knew she was alive. Before going to stay with Kim and Bonnie, her mother was the only person that she had to keep her sane aside from Kim. It was an odd thing that her mother kept her sane considering how much the woman got on her nerves.

“I was actually getting a little worried about you, firefly. I wasn’t sure if you got picked up or if you blew me off to be with your little girlfriend,” Isabel teased as she and Shego retreated to the living room, where tea and cookies waited.

“See, this why I try not to tell you anything. You just throw it back at me the second you get the chance to,” Shego complained as she flopped down on the soft couch.

“I’m throwing back the fact that you have a girlfriend?” Isabel inquired incredulously, dramatically putting her hand to her chest as she sat down next to Shego.

Shego glared at her mother. “You know you are.”

“Maybe I am,” Isabel conceded with a shrug and a smile.

“I don’t even know why I come here anymore. I should hang out with Daddy. You’re so annoying,” Shego said to her mother as she reached for a cup of tea

“If you didn’t come here, I’d find and hurt you and that’s why you come. Plus, who has the time to find your father to hang out with him?” Isabel pointed out.

Shego scoffed. “Whatever. You think too highly of yourself.” She sipped her tea. 

“And you don’t? Besides, you know I could beat you up faster than that little girlfriend of yours.”

Shego glared at her mother again. “There you go again, throwing stuff back in my face. And she doesn’t beat me up.”

Emerald eyes shined with amusement. “Well, the guy you worked for never won, so she must’ve been doing something to you and you’ve already said she wasn’t fucking you.”

Shego just rolled her eyes. Her mother’s vulgarity did not bother her and she hardly noticed it most of the time. As much as Shego hated to acknowledge it, she got quite a bit of her personality from her mother and her crude language was included in that.

“How is the sex life going or is it still nonexistent?” Isabel asked, just entertaining herself by teasing her daughter as usual.

“You know, I doubt most mothers ask their daughters that question,” the green-skinned female pointed out. She then shoved a cookie in her mouth.

Isabel scoffed. “Most mothers aren’t me. So, how goes that?”

Shego shrugged while she swallowed down her cookie, not in the mood to be scolded for talking with her mouth full. “It’s all complicated now… or maybe it’s getting less complicated. I don’t know.” She shook her head. Maybe it had been complicated when she had been trying to compete with Bonnie for Kim, but now that it seemed like they were not going to compete for Kim because they also wanted each other now then things might get simpler.

“How is it more or less complicated?” Isabel asked before sipping her tea.

Shego glanced at her mother. She had not been too open about her relationship Kim of late to her mother. She was not sure how to go about explaining to her mother that she shared her “little girlfriend.” Beyond that, how was she supposed to explain that now she was working her way into real three-way relationship? Her mother was pretty open-minded and everything, but she doubted even Isabel would take the news as calmly as she took everything else.

“Well?” Isabel pressed.

“Well, Mommy, it’s just… okay, remember how I told you that Kimmie was already in a relationship by the time I admitted having feelings for her?” Shego asked. She figured if she could set everything up, then maybe it would not seem so odd and her mother would not react strongly to the strange situation.

“Right and she wouldn’t leave the girl to be with you, but she kept seeing you,” Isabel filled in what she knew. She frowned a little. She had not been a fan of the arrangement because she thought her daughter deserved better, but she did not step in or stand in Shego’s way since Shego was all right with the situation.

“Right.” Shego ran her hand through her hair. “Well, after a while her girl figured out that there was something between us.”

Isabel tensed and her eyes widened for a moment. “Oh, my. She didn’t break up with you, did she?”

Shego shook her head. “Oh, no, nothing like that. Well, the weird thing was that her girlfriend, sort of well, accepted it.” She shrugged a little.

“She accepted it?” Isabel echoed in a puzzled tone, her elegant eyebrows drawing closer together in confusion.

Shego fiddled her fingers, wanting to word things as best she could. “Her girlfriend, Bonnie, she accepted that I had feelings for Kimmie and that Kimmie had feelings for me. And we… we sort of agreed to share Kim.” It was like there was no way to set things up to where they would sound somewhat normal.

“Share Kim?” Isabel considered herself to be a rather intelligent woman, but she was not following what her child meant.

“ _Share_ _Kim_ ,” Shego repeated, emphasizing both words. She made meaningless hand gestures as well, like they would somehow help her mother gather what she meant.

Isabel stared at her daughter as she took in the words. _Wait, wait, wait, Shego can’t possible mean she and this Bonnie girl are actually sharing Kim, right?_ _What the hell kind of thing is that to do? How can Shego agree to something like that?_ She deserved someone just for her. She should not have to share the woman she loved.

“Shego,” Isabel started with a sigh.

“Wait, there’s more,” Shego interjected. She could already see that her mother did not approve of things, so she figured that she might as well get all over with.

“More?” Isabel was already incredulous and her daughter had the nerve to have more. _Is this girl trying to kill me?_

“I’ve been somewhat living with them for a couple of months now and everything’s been fine and everything. I mean, I get to fight with Kimmie every day and Bonnie’s fun to argue with. They’ve kind of domesticated me… as best one can anyway. Sometimes, I cook dinner or breakfast. Not into the whole cleaning thing yet, but maybe I’ll get there. We all relax on the sofa and watch movies and it’s a great feeling…” Shego was not sure how to lead into the fact that she was now with both of them, especially since her mother’s expression had not changed.

“What the hell are you saying?” Isabel inquired, trying to wrap her mind around what her daughter seemed to be implying. She put her hand out before moving a finger to her chin.

Twisting up her mouth, Shego sighed. “Well, Mommy, it’s like… well… we’re all together… You know… like together.”

Isabel’s pale forehead wrinkled and she put out her hand again. “How the hell are the three of you together? It’s three of you.”

“Right, so, I guess we’re all sharing each other…” Shego could not believe how she was screwing up the explanation. It was just that she did not want her mother to think less of her, as much as she hated to admit that, even if it was in her own head.

Isabel tried to come to grips with what her daughter told her, but it just did not click in her mind. She usually did not mind the things Shego did. As long as no one got killed, she was typically fine with her daughter’s decisions; well, her children’s decisions really. But, now the girl spoke nonsense about sharing her girlfriend with another woman and then all three of them sharing each other. It just did not make any sense to her and she really did not want to accept it.

Look, she accepted the fact that her daughter was a lesbian. It had actually been fairly obvious when the girl was growing up. She accepted Shego’s rather poor taste in women. She even accepted it when Shego came in talking about how she was in love with a girl that was involved in a relationship that she did not plan on leaving. But, this new thing was too much. How in the hell was it possible for her daughter to be in a relationship with two women at the same time and for them all to be living under the same roof like that was all right?

Shego was anxious to get the yelling that she knew was going to come out of the way. She could just see from her mother’s expression that the older woman did not approve. It was not something she was accustomed to and she doubted she would ever be comfortable with her mother having any real negative thoughts toward something that she might do. Even when she worked for Drakken and tried to take over the world, her mother was not against her. Isabel had just let her go with “well, if you think that’ll make you happy…” and that was it. How could she be okay with her working for an evil megalomaniac, but have a problem with the fact that she was in a rather charming relationship with two women?

It took Isabel a moment, but she was certain she found the words that she wanted to use to express her problem with the situation that should offend her daughter the least. The thing was that she did not get to say them. As soon as she opened her mouth, her front door was kicked in, her back door was kicked in, people came in through the windows, and in a few seconds the living room was full of people dressed in dark blue jumpsuits aiming guns at the mother and daughter. The pair frowned in the same manner.

“You guys are going to be in a lot of trouble if you stepped in the flowerbed outside that window,” Shego commented to take the edge off of the moment. But, she knew for a fact, if those flowers were down, heads would roll.

“And if there’s dirt on my rug… well, let’s just say, I hope you all have wills,” Isabel added in a serious manner.

“Silence both of you,” came an order from the doorway.

The mother and daughter cut their emerald gazes to the front door. A brunette wearing an eye-patch entered the house, Doctor Director. _So, Global Justice finally caught up with me_ , Shego noted. They just had to find her in her mother’s house. _Damn the luck_.

“Who the fuck are you?” Isabel demanded, glaring at the newcomer.

“I’d be quiet right now if I were you, ma’am. You’re harboring a dangerous fugitive, after all. Do you want to be arrested with her?” Doctor Director inquired.

Chuckling, a smirk settled onto Isabel’s face. “If you were me, you’d know I’m about to put my fist down your throat if you don’t explain what the fuck you’re doing in my home right now.”

“Mommy, it’s all right,” Shego said because she did not want her mother to get arrested with her. She knew that her mother would not hesitant in engaging and probably kicking Doctor Director’s ass for the disrespect to her, her home, and well, her daughter. She just had little desire to share a jail cell with her disapproving mother at the moment.

“It’s not all right. This is bullshit,” Isabel declared.

“Look, it’s cool. I’ll go peacefully,” Shego told Doctor Director, which shocked the one-eyed woman.

“You will?” the leader of GJ asked. She had brought so many things to wrangle the plasma-throwing villainess and as it turned out, she did not even need them.

“I give up.” Shego presented her wrists for cuff. She wished she could just watch her mother kick Doctor Director’s ass, but she did not like the consequences that went with that.

“Wise decision,” Doctor Director stated as she throw on a special pair of shackles for Shego. The manacles covered her hands completely and went up to her elbows. They were designed to keep her from using her powers.

“What exactly are the charges?” Isabel challenged them. Technically, her daughter should not even have warrants on her anymore considering the fact that she had been “dead” for damn near two years. They were arresting what was legally a corpse.

“Mommy, don’t worry about. Just tell my little girlfriend what happened,” Shego said as she was yanked toward the exit.

Isabel nodded and watched as her daughter was pulled out of the house like a vicious animal. She turned her gaze to the window where she could see her child being thrown into the back of a van. She had to fight against every instinct in her body that told her to go out there and take down all of those thugs and rescue her daughter, but she managed to avoid doing that. It would only embarrass Shego. Now, she had to look up how to find Kim Possible. 

-8-8-8-8-

Kim lay on the sofa, even though she did not want to. She just knew if she moved, Bonnie would be on her case. She hoped Shego came back soon because she thought Shego would be all for being irresponsible and letting her do something. Two against one; they could not lose in her opinion. But, then again, that all depended on who Shego sided with.

Bonnie was in the kitchen, unpacking groceries, which they had gotten after Kim was discharged from hospital that afternoon. Kim had tried to volunteer to do it, but Bonnie had none of it. Kim had done enough in her opinion and just needed to lay back and heal.

The attorney wondered when she should start dinner. She figured she should wait for Shego, just like she would wait for Kim. It would be a good gesture in her opinion since their relationship had changed or at least was changing. She believed if she made an effort then Shego would make one in return and they all could live together peacefully for the most part.

Now that she thought of Shego, she wondered how long it would take the pale woman to visit with her mother. The afternoon had come and gone and the evening was starting to do the same. Should she worry?

“Baby,” Bonnie called to the living room.

“Yeah?” Kim replied while searching hard for something to watch on television. Most people probably would have conceded that nothing was on after the first ten searches, but she did not have anything better to do. Besides, she was no quitter.

“Do you know when Shego should be coming in?”

“No clue.”

“Well, do you have her cell phone number or something?” Bonnie asked.

“She doesn’t have a cell phone,” Kim replied.

“Then how’d you always know to meet up?” Bonnie asked curiously. To her, not having cell phone was like saying a person did not have a head. Just how the hell was the person alive then?

Kim shrugged as best she could. “We just agreed on a time and always showed up. If necessary, we could just find each other. Why?”

“Well, I was wondering if I should start dinner or if I should wait for her…” Bonnie started to explain.

“You should definitely wait for her,” Kim replied, even though she was pretty hungry. In order to show they were all together though, they should always wait for each other when they were going to do something they could all be included in.

“I was going to, but I was just wondering if she was going to home sometime soon or if something happened to her or something.”

“Something can’t happen to Shego. She causes things to happen and then she makes a clean getaway,” Kim replied nonchalantly.

“Yeah, she thinks the same about you and we just had to bring you to the hospital,” Bonnie pointed out.

“Touché,” the redhead muttered with a slight scowl. “Don’t worry about her. She’s not looking to start trouble anywhere and most people aren’t looking to start trouble with her. Maybe she just spends a lot of time with her mother when she can.”

Bonnie conceded. She supposed she could wait a little while longer. She went to the living room and curled up on the sofa with Kim, careful of the hero’s injuries. Bonnie eventually found something on television for them to watch and they stayed like that until there was a disturbing knock at the door.

“I’ll get it!” Kim volunteered and she tried to get up.

“Stay!” Bonnie commanded and she pointed a threatening finger at the redhead.

Kim pouted, but she did not move. Bonnie got up to answer the door. Kim watched her curiously and moved off of the sofa once the tanned woman entered the hallway. She went to the living room entrance while Bonnie answered the door.

“Hi, can I help you?” Bonnie asked the woman that knocked. There was something very familiar about the woman. She looked like an older version of Shego, minus the green tint to her flesh.

“I’m looking for Kim Possible.”

“That’s me,” Kim replied as she approached the pair. “What can I do for you?”

“I’m Shego’s mother, Isabel. She told me to find you,” the woman explained.

“Why? What happened?” Kim inquired, ushering Isabel into the house. Bonnie closed the door and all three of them walked toward the living room.

“I believe she was arrested. The problem is that the people who took her weren’t wearing any badges and they didn’t identify themselves. I don’t know what to think, especially since she went with them without a fuss,” Isabel answered.

“Yeah, I’ve never known Shego to not make a fuss,” Bonnie remarked.

“That makes two of us and I’ve seen her arrested before. It never goes that smoothly,” Isabel said.

“Arrested? Okay, wait, describe to me what they looked like,” Kim instructed the middle-aged woman because she knew of only one agency that would dare do such a thing, especially since Shego was now dead to the world.

“They were dressed in dark blue jumpsuits and that’s about it. I believe the person in charge was a brown-haired woman with one eye—” Isabel was cut off.

“Doctor Director. Global Justice has Shego,” Kim figured as much. She also figured Shego went peacefully because she did not want her mother to get hurt. Global Justice had long ago deemed Shego dangerous and deadly force was totally acceptable in taking her down.

“How can they arrest her when she’s legally dead?” Isabel inquired.

“A better question is how can they arrest her at all,” Bonnie posed.

“She told me to tell you. I’m guessing you can help my little firefly,” Isabel said. 

“Little firefly?” Bonnie could not help it, she laughed. She would laugh long and hard later, but some of it had to come out right now.

“Bonnie, it’s a very funny nickname and all, but now isn’t the time. Who knows where Global Justice took Shego or even why they took her. I’m going to get on the phone with Wade and try to find out what’s going on,” Kim said.

“I’ll start digging up Shego’s legal files to see if they have any reason to hold her,” Bonnie volunteered.

“Okay.”

Isabel watched as the girls moved as if they had a dire mission to complete. It would seem Shego meant something to them. She hoped they got her little firefly back safe and sound. After all, Shego had been doing great since she was declared dead. 

-*-(New day… maybe)-*-

Shego was not sure what time it was. She had been dumped in a tiny cell with no windows and her hands were locked in those cuffs to keep her from using her powers, well as far as they knew anyway. She was not sure how long she had been in there and the pitch-blackness that swallowed her whole like a whale did not help. All she knew was that it was dark and hot, even for her.

She was not sure what she was being held for aside from the fact that she was Shego. She noticed she had not been read any particular rights or told that she was being sent to any particular country. Their main interest seemed to be wanting to know if Drakken was still alive and what he had planned.

She already tried telling them a few times that Drakken was very much dead. She had seen him blown to smithereens, but they did not believe her. They seemed to believe there was some big plot going on and they would get the information from her somehow. Right now, they were trying to disorient her by placing her in eternal darkness with enough space just for her to sit up in with the heat pumping. She would have to lie to them soon if she was not rescued.

“Come for me, my love,” Shego whispered to the air. She counted on Kim to come and rescue her, as much as she hated to be rescued. It was just that was about the only option that she had left. Besides, it would be all right if it was Kim. Kim would not rub it in her face beyond a little teasing.

She did not want to lie because she knew they would check it out and then when they found out that she was not telling the truth, things would only get worse. They would assume she was hiding something from them and they would prod harder for information. It would be pointless because Drakken was very dead. He did not have any new plot for world domination unless he could do it from the afterlife.

The problem was that GJ had been taking Drakken as a serious threat ever since the stupid Lil Diablo incident. So, they kept a close eye on his workings to make sure he never got that close to success again. She figured they probably feared that he had something really big cooking since she was still alive and they seemed to think Drakken went through a lot to fake her death. Little did they know she was only alive by luck and her powers.

“Shego, are you hungry?” came Doctor Director’s voice from overhead. Shego looked up, even though she could not see anything.

“You don’t have what I eat,” Shego remarked.

“Still got a lot of spirit in you. If you tell us where Drakken is, we’ll bring you some food and let you out.”

“I hear he’s got a memorial headstone in his hometown thanks to his mother,” the pale woman replied.

“Don’t play around.”

“When I get out of here—” Shego started to say, but the leader of GJ cut her off.

“You won’t get out of here if you don’t tell us where that madman is that you work for. If he hurts anyone else, I’m going to hold you accountable.”

“He can’t hurt anyone else, you dickhead. He’s dead,” Shego huffed.

“Like you?” 

“Drakken is dead. Let the goofy bastard rest in peace, you stupid bitch.”

“Fine. Have fun for a few more days in the dark.”

 _Days?_ _Have I really been there for days_ , Shego wondered. If she had, where was her beloved? Surely Kim would come for her, right? Of course, Kim loved her. Kim would come no matter what, Shego kept telling herself that as she sat in that hole for who knew how long.

“Director’s trying to psych me out. I won’t go for it,” Shego mumbled.

She banged her back against the wall of her cell for no reason. While she was certain Kim would come for her, she wondered about Bonnie. _Is Bonnie drinking because I’m missing?_ Kim had led her to believe that Bonnie probably was because Kim thought Bonnie would drink just because Shego was a street fighter by occupation now. If Kim was doing the rescue, then that meant Bonnie was left unattended and probably drinking every drop of alcohol in the house.

“When I get out of here, I’m pouring all of that shit out,” Shego decided. She would not let Bonnie do that to herself anymore. But, first, Kim had to come get her. “Come on, Princess. You can do anything. We both know that.” 

-*-(New day)-*-

“Fuck, I can’t believe that shit took that long,” Kim huffed as she marched through the halls of a certain organization’s headquarters. Along side the redhead was Isabel and behind them was Bonnie. The redhead referred to how long it took Wade to locate where Shego was considering that GJ could have taken the pale woman anywhere on the globe and he did not have any means to track her.

“Yeah, computer boy needs to work faster,” Bonnie concurred.

“Agreed,” Isabel grunted. “And, Kim, the casual swearing almost reminds me of Shego. Remind me to adopt you later.”

“After we get Shego,” Kim replied.

“Hey, you’re not—” a guard tried to say as he and his comrades approached the trio.

Kim and Isabel went into action without thinking. They dropped the four guards without much effort and then continued on through the hall as if they were supposed to be there. Bonnie stepped over the unconscious bodies and kept pace with her lover and Isabel. More agents came to stop them only to be floored by the martial artists; it was clear who it was that taught Shego how to fight.

“Kim Possible?” Doctor Director said as she went to go see what all of the commotion was about. The last thing she expected to find was a pile of her agents at the feet of one of the world’s greatest heroes.

“Where’s Shego?” Kim demanded with a glare. This was clearly not a social call.

“What?” the one-eyed woman asked in a confused voice.

“We want Shego back now,” Kim stated, pointing to the floor. 

“Baby, let me field this one,” Bonnie said as she stepped in front of the martial artists.

“Fine,” Kim conceded, especially since it had been in the plan for Bonnie to do the talking since she had all of the ammo.

“Doctor Director, I’m Bonnie Rockwaller. I’m here on behalf of Shego, as her attorney. First off, where is she?” Bonnie asked in a very professional tone. It was that voice that allowed her to shock the hell out of people when she started baring her fangs to tear into their arguments. She even put on a pair of spectacles, just to add to the look of being a professional legal rottweiler.

“Shego doesn’t need an attorney,” Doctor Director replied.

“One would think so since the statute of limitations is up for everything that she was wanted for her before her untimely death,” Bonnie commented. “But, since she suddenly finds herself being kidnapped by an organization that for some reason thinks it doesn’t have to obey U.S. law while on U.S. soil, it would seem that she does need an attorney. Now, where is she?” she demanded once more in a rather forceful tone.

“Listen, you all have a minute, one minute exactly, to get out of here,” Doctor Director stated.

“May I?” Isabel politely asked Kim with a small smile.

“Oh, please do,” the redhead replied while motioning forward.

The middle-aged woman stepped by Kim and stood next to Bonnie. Isabel moved Bonnie to the side a little and stood face to face with Doctor Director. Isabel cracked her knuckles right in front of the leader of GJ before striking.

Doctor Director moved to block the blow, which only turned out to ploy. As she went to stop that hit, Isabel’s other hand moved to Doctor Director’s blind side. She hit a nerve cluster underneath the brown-haired woman’s armpit and her body quickly shut down because of too many electrical impulses to her brain. She fell against Isabel, who held her up.

“Listen carefully, you foolish bitch, I want my fucking daughter back now and I don’t think either of us want to find out the lengths I’ll go through to get her back. I also don’t want to find out the lengths these girls will go to,” Isabel whispered to the director.

“Is she all right?” Bonnie asked curiously, referring to fallen female.

“She’ll be fine, dear,” Isabel answered with a reassuring smile.

Isabel repositioned herself to hold Doctor Director as the woman slowly regained control of her body. Bonnie then stepped back up to the plate. She removed her glasses.

“If you don’t take us to Shego right now, we’re going to cause a lot of problems for you. The first being we’ll make your organization public. Next, we’re going to point out how you burst into homes without warrants or authorization and steal citizens right from their living rooms. Then, we’re going to have _the_ Kim Possible denounce your practices publicly and inform the world that you stole her friend without cause. How long do you think GJ will last with that kind of press? I’m sure the U.S. government will be interested in knowing how you operated in their country without letting them know you were going to be there too,” Bonnie said in a smug voice.

“I’d take us to Shego at this point if I were you because this is her nice list,” Isabel said to the one-eyed woman. 

-8-8-8-8- 

Shego was vaguely aware of footsteps on top of her. She had come to counting them when she heard them if only for something to do. She was already used to hearing the footsteps all round her for brief periods of time. She wondered what floor GJ had put her under. 

“Well?” she heard a voice demand. It sounded like Bonnie, but she was not sure because it was muffled. _I’m probably just going crazy and hearing things_. After all, there was no reason for Bonnie to be there.

“Wait,” she then heard a voice growl. That one was almost unmistakably Doctor Director, even though she was not used to hearing the woman sound so anger from where she was.

The ceiling then opened up. Shego had to hide her eyes because of the light, so she did not notice three pair of eyes pairing down at her. The owners of the eyes gasped.

“What the hell did you do to her?” Kim snarled and grabbed Doctor Director by the collar. She beat Isabel to question and action.

“Kimmie?” Shego said as she stood up on sore legs.

Shego stumbled a bit as she climbed to her feet and Kim noticed. The redhead flung Doctor Director away as if she was worthless and was at Shego’s side in a flash. She supported the pale woman as best she could as Shego climbed out of the hole, looking starved and weary.

“I’m here, Shego. We’re here,” Kim said softly, patting Shego with concern and affection.

“I knew you’d come,” Shego said in a hoarse whisper as she tried to wrap her arms around the redhead, but she was still in the cuffs.

“Take the shackles off of her,” Bonnie ordered Doctor Director.

The one-eyed woman complied and used a remote on her wrist cuff to unlock the cuffs on Shego. The green-skinned woman threw her weak arms around Kim as soon as the manacles fell to the floor. Kim returned the embrace and helped Shego out of the pit that she was kept in. Bonnie moved without thinking and joined in the embrace.

“Let’s get out of here. I need to watch a cheesy horror movie,” Shego remarked in a weak voice, trying to make light of the situation now that she was pretty sure everything would be all right.

“You need to brush your teeth, too,” Bonnie teased. She was trying to hide how relieved she was that the green-skinned woman was all right. She had been so worried, but Shego would have liked to know that she had not drunk any liquor at all. She had been too busy with Kim and Isabel trying to get Shego back.

“Keep it up and I’ll kiss you with my been-in-a-hole-for-days breath,” the pale woman threatened.

“Keep that to yourself,” Bonnie replied and then she turned her attention to Doctor Director. “I hope you’ve learned your lesson.” A wicked smirk settled on her tanned face.

Doctor Director just stared in disbelief as the trio started to make their way to the exit; Kim continued to support Shego’s weight for her as they left, but Bonnie helped. Isabel stared at the one-eyed woman for a moment, as if considering something.

“Kimmie, Bonnie, wait,” Shego said and the pair halted.

“What is it?” Bonnie asked, but Shego just turned her attention back to her mother.

“Mommy, let it go,” Shego called, knowing her mother contemplated paying Doctor Director back for the capture. She had more than likely stewed over it since the moment it happened. They all just needed to get out of there and forget it ever happened… for now anyway.

“Mommy?” Bonnie stored that one away for later. She would laugh at it when things were less serious.

“Fine,” Isabel hissed and she joined the girls to leave. She silently conceded that maybe… just maybe it was all right for her daughter to be in a relationship with two women, especially if they cared as much as Bonnie and Kim did. After all, not every mate would even consider storming a top-notch spy agency to get back a girlfriend. And they did it was such an impressive flare. 

-8-8-8-8-

The trio returned home after the eventful day and after making sure Isabel made it home safely. They ordered out for food, took showers, and crawled into bed to get a well-deserved rest. In between all of that, Kim informed Shego she had been missing for a week. It felt like so much longer to the pale woman.

“A whole week? What were you doing on during that time, Miss Perfect? Eating a sundae?” Shego teased.

Kim rolled her eyes while crawling to the center of the bed. “Oh, yeah, blame me. Not the fact that GJ tries to make sure it’s almost impossible to trace them.” She settled into what was now her spot.

“Still. I expected better of you,” Shego remarked with a mocking smirk. She settled to the right of Kim.

“You don’t have to worry about GJ anymore. Bonnie sort of scared the hell of them with talks of legal problems,” Kim said with a chuckle.

“Way to come in handy, demon child,” Shego taunted the aqua-eyed female, reaching over Kim to tap her.

“Anything for Isabel’s little firefly,” Bonnie shot back with a grin.

“Never call me that,” Shego growled, pointing a threatening finger at the lawyer.

“Why? Only your mommy can call you that?” Bonnie teased.

Shego growled again and made a fist. She leaned forward, as if she was about to attack. But, she could not bring it in her to hit Bonnie. So, she hit Kim.

“Ow! What did I do?” Kim said as she held her now sore arm.

“You were there,” Shego replied with a shrug. She had to hit someone and she could not hit Bonnie.

“That’s not fair,” the redhead argued.

“Stop being such a baby,” the pale woman said.

“I am a baby. I’m her baby,” Kim said while cuddling up to Bonnie and they both stuck their tongues out at Shego.

The pale woman was far from put off by the team-up against her. She grabbed both of them and usually, she would have pulled them both to her, but she did not have all of her strength back yet. Instead, she pressed herself against Kim, but held onto both of them. Bonnie put one of her hands on Shego’s arm. They all settled against each other, leaving a lot of space in the big bed.

“So, is this is a bad time to bring up all of us having sex?” Shego asked with a playful smile.

“Go to sleep,” Bonnie replied. They were all exhausted, Shego more so than the other two, and she had the nerve to bring up sex. Kim actually saw that one coming.

“I was just wondering. So, counselor, when is the appropriate time to discuss sex after such an ordeal?” Shego joked. She really wanted to just forget that the whole thing ever happened. She wanted to get on with her life with two obviously extraordinary women. She was glad that she landed both of them. 

-8-8-8-8- 

Next time: the trio tries to make this new relationship work and meet Bonnie’s family.


	3. Centerpiece

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. I don’t own fig newtons or iPods either.
> 
> Warning: once again because of the length, there will probably be some typos.

3: Centerpiece

The outside was blanketed by the on set of night, covered in darkness with the streetlights illuminating the roads to assist anyone going about outside. The inside of the ladies’ home was not much better. They had most of the lights off, save the one dining room, which lit the room that they were occupying. They could hear sounds of the night and the howl of the occasional wind, but they ignored it all. 

The trio was gathered around the table and two of them were incredulous to what was happening, even though they should have expected it. It was not really anything new, after all. They all held their cards close to them while looking back and forth between the other two at the table. There was also a pile of candy in the middle of the table.

Bonnie stared down at her cards and then at the two others at the table, taking special care to observe the damnable redhead at the table. Kim was so damn nonchalant about everything and it was hard to read her, which might explain why she was winning. It upset Bonnie to no end that she sat there down to her underwear and her glasses while Kim was practically still fully dressed. All Kim had lost were her damn socks and her shirt, which did not even matter because she was wearing a sports bra under her shirt and that covered almost as much as her shirt.

Shego was not faring much better than Bonnie. She was down to her underwear, too, but she had been wearing a sleeveless shirt under her t-shirt, which brought her a bit more time than Bonnie. The pale woman glanced at Kim and wondered what kind of miracle hand the redhead held now. They could not understand how Kim was so good at the damn game.

They watched Kim as she sat with her cards in one hand while the other hand played with the stick of a lollipop that she was eating, which only annoyed them further. They wagered candy and clothing when playing to prolong the activity, especially when they did not have anything else to do with their time. Now, they were just prolonging the agony of watching Kim work that damn lollipop. Bonnie and Shego glanced at each other as if saying “if that thing is still in her mouth a minute from now, screw the game and get her.” They both nodded; message acknowledged and received. Kim smirked around the lollipop, leading them to believe she knew what she was doing.

Bonnie wondered how it was possible that Kim was winning the game. She was a lawyer. _I should be able to read people and tell when they were bluffing, especially someone I’ve had prolonged contact with_. It was not working at the moment with the redhead. It never worked with the olive-eyed female. She sat there so casual about everything, as if she came to the table already knowing she would win the prize. It bothered Bonnie to no end.

Shego could understand that because she could not read Kim either. She had only been fighting the girl since Kim was sixteen. She had years, almost a full decade, of experience dealing Kim. She figured by now she would know what every muscle tick meant, what every inhale meant, what every exhale meant, and what every blink meant, but that was not the case. Seven years of going at it with Kim and she could not read the girl for one damn hand of poker! It was unbelievable to her. _I’m a goddamn disgrace to my ninja and thief training for not being able to read Little Miss Perfect in the situation_.

Kim glanced up at her lovers, totally aware of their internal struggles. Pondering how it was that they could know her for so long, but could not read her right to get her down to her under garments like they were. They seemed to forget that she was Kim Possible. She was used to being in sticky situations and she had to keep her cool. Playing poker was nothing to escaping a crocodile pit or a giant mutant octopus.

After each lady felt she had assessed the situation from every angle plausible, they began making their bets. They paid close attention to Kim, hoping to get an idea of if she was bluffing, as she tended to do, or if she held another killer hand. By the end of it, they had no idea what Kim had, but they had a feeling it would blow them out of the water. They were right.

“Damn it, that’s like fourth straight flush she’s gotten tonight,” Shego groaned, throwing her hands up. She shot Bonnie a glare as she settled. “Are you purposely dealing her these cards?”

Scoffing, Bonnie rolled her eyes. “Oh, yeah, blame the dealer. Didn’t you deal her a fucking royal flush not too long ago?” She pointed an accusing finger at Shego.

“This is bullshit. Why are you trying so hard anyway, Princess? The game’s no fun if you win all the time,” Shego said to Kim.

“So says the person wishing that she was winning,” Kim remarked with a cocking smirk.

“Whose idea was this anyway?” Bonnie wondered out loud as she sat back in her chair in a huff with her arms over her chest, which was now bare.

“Shego’s,” Kim answered with a bright grin.

Bonnie turned to Shego. “Why did you suggest this again?”

“The fuck does it even matter?” Shego sighed, rubbing her head.

“She suggested it because she wanted the prize and we don’t have anything better to do anyway. We should just write my name on the prize and call it a day,” the redhead teased. To add insult to injury, she rolled her lollipop around in her mouth, knowingly driving them mad.

“To hell with that. You’re not winning again,” Shego declared, casting a glare at the other martial artist.

“Yeah!” Bonnie concurred.

“So deal the fucking cards,” the former thief said to the former hero.

Kim shrugged and proceeded to deal the cards. The routine then started up again. They always had one prize whenever they played a game and there could only be one winner. The outcome was usually decided depending on the game that they played, but Kim won more games than they liked. It was not fair, in their opinions anyway. It was not fair because they were not winning.

Bonnie and Shego were not below cheating to try to win either. It was just that they often caught each other when cheating and neither was about to let the other get away with that. With them, it was not just that they wanted Kim to lose, which would have been a sure thing if they cheated together, but they also wanted to win. So, they were always against each other and that sort of divided their attention. They had to watch Kim and each other, making sure the other did not do anything underhanded. Kim, on the other hand, just had to play straight.

“Holy shit,” Shego groaned as she threw her cards on the table in a huff.

“Unbe-fucking-lievable,” Bonnie agreed.

Emerald eyes focused on Kim, narrowing on her. “You’ve got to be cheating. Nobody on the planet is this good in poker.”

“Apparently I am because we all know I don’t cheat,” the redhead replied with an innocent smile and shrug.

“What the hell do you do at those galleries when you go down to show your pictures?” the pale woman teased. “Are you in the backroom hustling people at poker?”

“Are you guys ready to call it quits and just give me my prize?” Kim inquired.

“I’m not quitting until I’m naked,” Shego declared defiantly.

“You’re not that far from it,” Bonnie pointed out.

“But, I’m not it, so I don’t quit,” the green-skinned woman stated.

“Fine, deal the cards,” Kim said.

They sat there for a few more hands before Shego had no choice but to quit because she was stark nude, as was Bonnie. Kim was eating a brand new lollipop and looking back between her two furious lovers. She smiled.

“Stop rubbing it in. So, what the hell do you want?” Shego huffed, glaring at Kim once more.

Whenever they played games, the winner got one request from the two losers. The request was typically sexual in nature, especially if Shego won. There were rules to the request. It had to be something the two losers could do together for the winner; Bonnie had once used it to get Kim and Shego to clean the bathroom, much to Shego’s displeasure. The request also was only good for the night. If it was not used immediately, it was forfeit come sunrise. It was also not a dare, so it could not be used to make the losers do something totally outrageous like wander around the neighborhood nude. It was something the losers had to agree with to a certain extent, which was hard to do if Bonnie or Shego won something because they liked to argue with each other over everything.

“Hmm… what do I want?” Kim pondered the question for a moment. Playfully, she put her finger to her chin and tapped.

The redhead had a few risqué suggestions under her belt. She was not too sure what she wanted right now, though. She had not had much time to think on it because Shego just sort of popped up with the idea of playing out of the blue. Honestly, at the time, Kim was happy for something to relieve the boredom, but now, she was at a loss.

“Hey, I know what you two could do for me,” Kim said with a smirk.

“This ought to be a good one,” Shego commented because of the expression that their redheaded lover wore.

“Yeah,” Bonnie agreed.

“I want you two to dance for me.” Her olive eyes lit up.

The pair knew what she meant by dance. They looked at each other and shrugged. It would seem that they were dancing together. They supposed it could have been worse. She once requested that they not argue while they all watched a movie. They had practically torn their hair out that time.

“Don’t step on my feet.” Bonnie glared at Shego.

“Don’t get in my way,” Shego retorted with a snort.

The pair exited the dining room while Kim collected her winnings, the candy. She marched to the living room and flopped down in the armchair. She opened a new lollipop as her lovers returned. They wore long robes. She wondered where they got those from considering they were both so against anything that was not sexy.

“What kind of music do you want?” Bonnie asked Kim.

“Don’t even ask her. She’ll get what we give her and like it,” Shego declared with a sneer, obviously just a little bitter that she lost.

The words earned Shego yet another glare from Bonnie. “That’s not how it works and you know that,” the tanned woman hissed.

“She’s just mad because she lost,” Kim teased.

“Yeah, don’t be bitter. Aren’t you supposed to be sweetness?” Bonnie taunted Shego while hooking her leg around Shego’s waist and rubbing up against the pale woman. Her pet name for Shego was “sweetness,” but it was more a mocking knock at the ex-thief more than anything else.

“Hey, hey, hey, none of that without music,” Kim scolded the pair.

“I guess I should start the music,” Bonnie said because she was a bit comfortable with her leg where it was.

“Yeah,” Kim agreed.

Bonnie removed her limb and went to see what they had for the occasion. There were several playlists to choose from, but she wanted something that would drive Kim to the brink as soon as possible. When found she found something, she put the music on and then turned to Shego. They smirked at each other and then dropped their robes to the floor. Kim’s mouth followed the robes, which caused Bonnie and Shego to smirk again. They guessed that she approved of their attire… or lack there of.

Now, their attire made sense. They had on sexy lingerie, bras that left nothing to the imagination and thongs. Bonnie had on lavender lace while Shego wore black lace. They had on garter belts with stockings that matched their underwear and high heel shoes. They were a bit amused as they noticed Kim actually blushed. She was funny, they thought, because Kim was the most modest and possibly the most prudish among them, even though they were all together because of her.

The dancing began and they were quite serious about it. It was pretty much a strip tease mixed in with some lap dancing and grinding against each other. They had all done it for each other several times already. Sometimes they did not even need an excuse to do it. One of them would just be bored and the other two would liven up the evening.

It usually started with the two dancers teasing the one watching, pressing against each other, making suggestive moves against each other or against the watcher, but not allowing the watcher to touch them. So, when one of them got close to Kim and she started reaching out, they slapped her hand away. The redhead pouted before trying again and again and again, until her hand was not knocked away. Touching with her hands evolved into touching with other parts of her body, like her lips and occasionally her tongue, which eventually coaxed each dancer to come in and kiss her.

Things progressed as they usually did, meaning the three of them ended up naked and in bed together. Dancing was really a request that they all could appreciate, they thought. But, to be kind, the dancers always took care of the watcher first.

Kim whined as it felt like their hands, lips, and tongues were everywhere. When they delivered ecstasy, all she wanted to do was return the favor, which she did with great enthusiasm as soon as she got the chance. Bonnie and Shego were not surprised and relished Kim’s talents as well as showcasing their own. They snuggled close to each other with Kim being in the middle since it had been her idea.

“Do you two think that maybe we go to far with this?” Kim wondered out loud, head resting on Shego’s shoulder.

“What do you mean?” Bonnie inquired. She was tucked in close to Kim, whose hand could not stop caressing just below Bonnie’s bellybutton even if she tried.

“I don’t know. Do you think like… maybe we’re getting perverted?” the redhead clarified her question. The thought passed through her head as Shego caressed one of her breasts with a single finger and Kim noted that her own hand just wanted to creep further Bonnie’s tempting form.

“Perverted?” Bonnie echoed with an arched eyebrow. It was like this had never even entered her mind.

“Princess, let’s be serious, what we consider normal is probably considered perverted by a majority of people anyway. So, just because we like to entertain each other and keep the spice in our relationship doesn’t make up perverts,” Shego replied, finger lazily drawing closer to the center of Kim’s breast.

“Yeah, the lesbian threesome kind of already put us there, didn’t it?” Bonnie remarked with a chuckle. She moved her hand, placing it on Shego’s hip.

“I don’t hear you complaining about it,” the pale woman commented.

“And you won’t. I might complain about you, though,” Bonnie countered, gently pinching the irksome eldest amongst them.

Shego drew back a little and glared at Bonnie over Kim’s head. “Whoa, don’t get me started on you considering the fact that I damn near cut my tongue on a few nubs.”

Bonnie let out a dramatic gasp. “What? I just got waxed, unlike someone in the bed.”

“Ladies, ladies, ladies, can we have this argument sometime when I’m not in between both of you?” Kim requested.

“Feeling left out? Because the demon child wasn’t the only person I almost cut my tongue on,” Shego quipped, giving Kim a lopsided grin.

“Hey!” Kim huffed. “I just got waxed with her,” the redhead said while nodding toward Bonnie. She did not have the free hand to point at the moment.

“They must be using some cheap wax,” Shego teased.

“Okay, that’s it. You’re being mean,” Kim declared.

Bonnie and Kim had a strategy for when Shego was decidedly “mean.” They eased away from her and left her isolated in the bed. She hated that with a passion. It made her feel so excluded and it was horrible being excluded by the women she loved, even if they were only teasing her.

“All right, you two. I get the hint. Come back now or I’ll get cold,” Shego said while trying her best to maintain her usual cool demeanor. They were hardly a couple of inches from her, but it always felt like miles to her. _When the hell did I get so dependent on these two?_ She did not know, did not care, but wanted them in her arms again.

Bonnie and Kim did not waste anytime returning to Shego. It was actually more like they would get cold if they did not go back to her. They did not have any covers over them and she was the one with the high body temperature. They all snuggled back together again and Bonnie threw the cover over all of them.

Thanks to Kim, they now all wondered if they were getting a bit outrageous with some of the things that they did sexually. Bonnie and Shego did not think that the dancing was perverted at all. Most of the things they did, the two of them believed it was healthy for their relationship and not really perverted since it was only for their eyes. It kept them all involved with their sex lives and it helped relax or entertain them, which they did not think there was anything wrong with. It also kept them bonded together. Any normal couple would probably do the same thing, wanting to keep the spice and intimacy in their relationship.

Sure, they were not a normal couple considering the fact that they were a trio first of all, but the same principle applied. They figured there should be nothing wrong with what they did if other people probably did the same thing. Besides, even if it was perverted, it was for them alone and it helped keep them together, which was more important than anything else.

As far as Bonnie was concerned, it did not even matter if they did things that most people might consider perverted. They had crossed that line a long time ago, anyway. It seemed it did not register to Kim’s or Shego’s minds mostly because they were used to abnormal things. She did not care anymore, but at first, it was a little odd when all three of them were going for each other.

They first had to abolish the old order, which took some getting used to. Bonnie and Shego had to constantly silently remind themselves they were not competing for Kim anymore. Kim had to adjust to it being all right to finally start romantic encounters. Bonnie and Shego also had to get used to touching each other. And then there was the unasked question of was it all right for two of them to fool around if the third person was not around. They still were not too sure of that answer.

They all sort of braced themselves whenever they came home in case the other two were getting busy somewhere in the house. They had not walked in on anything yet, but they still tried to expect it. They were not too sure how they would react to come in and find out the other two were doing things. They tried to rationalize why they should not react in a negative way.

A good deal of the time whenever the three of them got in bed for carnal pleasure, one of them was left to watch the other two and the one typically liked that. So, they figured if they were already used to seeing the other two go at it, they should not be upset if they came home to discover that happening. The rational did not fly well in their minds.

They all seemed to have a fear of being left out by the other two and they supposed that was why they did not want to come home one day to find the other two going at it without them. It seemed like it would be happening behind their back, they supposed, and that they did not like. It was almost like cheating, leaving one of them out of the bonding experience.

But, they were all almost certain that one day the issue would come up and they would have to deal with it. None of them thought to bring it up in a conversation to talk about, thinking it would only give the other two ideas. It was not that they did not trust each other, but they got bored and that could lead places.

“Hey,” Shego said after a few minutes of silence.

“No, go to sleep,” Bonnie groaned, knowing just what the pale woman would suggest. She was worn out and from what she could tell from Kim’s breathing, she was asleep already. Kim was pressed against Bonnie’s back.

“Come on, it’s still early,” Shego argued.

“What the hell? Midnight is not early,” Bonnie retorted.

“It is if you wake up at noon.”

“None of us woke up at noon,” Bonnie pointed out. They all started their day at eight in the morning, so what was Shego even going on about?

“I’m just saying.”

“And I’m just saying go to sleep, you damn nymphomaniac.”

“You know you want to.”

“No, I don’t. I want to go to sleep and if we keep talking, we’re going to wake Kimmie up,” Bonnie pointed out.

“She’ll wake up in a second, anyway. She’ll have caught her second wind by then,” Shego commented.

“How do you know?” Bonnie asked in a suspicious voice and she carefully turned around to face Shego.

The emerald-eyed woman only smiled demonically at Bonnie, which the tanned female did not like. Sometimes, Bonnie was a heavy sleeper, so she wondered if Kim and Shego sometimes fooled around in the middle of the night while she slept. She doubted it. She figured Shego was only teasing her for whatever reason.

“Will you just go to sleep,” Bonnie huffed.

“Oh, you didn’t take the bait.” Shego pretended to pout.

“Will you just go to sleep!”

“Could both of you just go to sleep?” Kim snorted, which drew attention to her since they swore she asleep. But, really how could she sleep through all of the noise passing right over her head?

Bonnie and Shego both settled back down and finally went to sleep. Kim sighed and nuzzled her head back into Bonnie’s shoulder, so she could go back to sleep, too. The relationship was not perfect, but it worked so far. It would improve with time; Bonnie and Shego blamed that mindset on Kim. It would seem her optimism was infectious.

-*-(New day)-*-

Bonnie parked her car in the driveway. She was happy to be home after spending the day yelling at the people in the firm she worked in. _There are way too many morons in that place_ , she thought. She just wanted to go inside, collapse on the couch with a cup of tea, and watch the soaps that she missed every day. Yes, Bonnie was addicted to soap operas and she recorded the three different stories she watched every day. Bonnie was not sure why she watched soaps considering her life was much stranger than most of the plots on the shows, but she still watched them.

Sometimes, Kim would watch then with her, even though she was never interested in the show. Shego had watched one with her once and was freaked out to find herself being drawn in. Shego quickly abandoned ship on that one, refusing to fall victim to a corny soap. Bonnie knew someday, Shego would be back, though.

The tanned woman collected the mail from the box and waved to one of their neighbors as she went to the door. She often wondered if the neighbors knew what went on in their house. She doubted it, considering how friendly they were, but she was still curious.

She knew when it was just her and Kim in the house, people often thought they were just roommates. They had never been much for public displays and they did not have anything to prove, so they never really offered more than the evidence they were roommates. She suspected Shego being in the house now strengthened that idea rather than hurt it. Most people would think roommates way before lesbian trio, she figured.

Bonnie let the idea go and went into the house. She noted the silence, which told her that either her lovers were not home or they were in the backyard kicking the snot of each other. It turned out to be the latter.

Bonnie watched the two fighting for a while. She liked watching them go at each other, which she thought was weird. She had never really been into martial arts, even when she hooked up with Kim. But, she liked watching Kim practice and now she liked Shego practice, too. So, she stood there and watched them until they noticed her.

Kim and Shego typically halted their training when Bonnie came in. If the attorney did not have any work she needed to do, they all figured it was a good time to spend some time together. It tended to take them a while to all get together, but it started when Bonnie came in.

“Hey, you kicked some ass at the office today, didn’t you?” Shego asked Bonnie as she and Kim came in from the outside.

“I will one day soon if those idiots don’t smarten up,” Bonnie replied.

Shego laughed a little bit and gave Bonnie a welcome home kiss. It was not something over-the-top like she would have done in the past. There was no reason to be over-the-top anymore. It was actually a rather sweet and tender embrace.

“I’m going to go take a shower,” Shego announced.

“Don’t use all the hot water,” Bonnie said.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” the pale woman replied in a flippant tone as she started for the stairs. Bonnie turned her attention Kim.

“Hey, baby, hard day?” the redhead asked as she leaned for a quick kiss.

“Isn’t always? I’m going to go take a shower, too, and get out of these clothes.”

“Want me to make you some tea?” Kim offered.

“Please and thank you,” Bonnie answered. See, Kim rubbed off a little too much.

The tanned woman went to take a shower in the downstairs bathroom since Shego had gone upstairs. Kim went to make some tea for Bonnie while thinking about how she would have to wait a while for her shower considering both Bonnie and Shego took piping hot showers, which meant the hot water would be done when they were. She sometimes considered joining one of them, but she wondered if that was against their unwritten rules. It would probably upset whichever one she did not join, so she never did it.

Bonnie finished with her shower first and returned to the living room in her house clothes of a ripped tank top and cut-off sweat shorts that went to mid-thigh. Her tea was waiting on the coffee table along with five fig newtons, which caused her to smile. She sat down and turned on the television to watch her stories. She also decided to go through the mail to see if anything came for her.

She flipped through the envelopes. There were a couple of things for Kim. A couple of bills, too, which she would take care soon and some junk mail. Then she came across something for her and the letter made her brow furrow. It was from her mother.

“What the hell?” Bonnie muttered.

She wondered why her mother wrote her a letter rather than calling the house as the irksome woman typically did. She ripped the envelope open to see what her mother was going on about. As she was about to read the letter, Shego entered the living room and noticed the untouched fig newtons. She began reaching for one and promptly had her hand slapped away.

“Those are mine,” Bonnie pointed out with a glare.

“Are you going to tell me that you of all people can’t share?” Shego teased with a smirk.

“Will you just give me my little bit of peace?” Bonnie requested in a huff.

Shego only smirked more as she went to the armchair and flopped down. She grabbed her iPod, which was on the cushion of the chair. She also had a book waiting for her. While Bonnie, and probably Kim, watched the stories, Shego liked to read, even though some part of her dared try to look at the screen. She ignored what was happening on the other end of the living room.

Bonnie picked up a fig newton while reading the letter from her mother. She was not very surprised by the contents, but she could only wonder why her mother had decided on writing a letter rather than calling like she always did. She glanced at Shego and wondered if what had been the usual in the past was going to be unusual now.

Bonnie decided to not wonder about it while turning her attention to her soaps. No news from her mother would ruin her night. She drank her tea and ate her fig newtons while waiting for Kim to join her, which took almost an hour.

The redhead hopped onto the sofa and was going to curl into Bonnie just because she felt so fresh and relaxed from her shower, but Bonnie beat her to it. The lawyer pressed herself into Kim and wrapped an arm around the slim martial artist. Kim leaned down and rested her head in Bonnie’s brunette mane.

“You know, my mother wrote me a letter,” Bonnie commented during two characters interacting on her soap that she did not particularly care about.

“Wrote you a letter? Why would she do that?” Kim inquired.

“Because she likes being annoying, I’m guessing. But, the gist of the letter is that they’re having a barbeque on the Saturday.”

“Well, if you’re going to go, you know I’m going.”

“I know. You think Shego’ll go?” Bonnie asked. Shego did not hear her name coming up because she still had her headphones on and her music blared.

“Hmm…” Kim glanced over at the pale woman. “I don’t even know. You know how she is when it comes to things she doesn’t like or doesn’t care about.”

Bonnie nodded on that one. Shego was very upfront about not attending things she had no interest in. She did not go out and view Kim’s photos when they were shown in galleries and such, even though it would have meant a lot to Kim. She did not go to any of Bonnie’s trials to support the blue-eyed lawyer, even though the support would have meant a lot to Bonnie.

Both Kim and Bonnie understood where Shego was coming from, even though they thought Shego needed to understand that being in a relationship sometimes meant doing things she did not want to. The green-skinned woman seemed to be starting to comprehend that a little bit considering the fact she had quit her street fighting, even though she did not want to, but Bonnie wanted her to stop. She thought it was bothersome to do something she did not want to and kind of felt like if her girlfriends really loved her then they would not ask her to do something she did not want to.

Once the soaps were over, Bonnie went to start dinner. She usually cooked because she was the best cook out of the three of them. Shego sometimes took the time out of her life to make one meal of the day while they tended to encourage Kim to not touch the stove unless she was boiling water. Kim could cook as long as it was nothing too technical, but they preferred that she just stayed out of the kitchen to avoid any incidents.

When they finished dinner, they went to lounge on the sofa in their typical fashion. Shego rested on her back with her head propped on her arm. Kim rested against Shego, who had an arm around Kim’s shoulders. Bonnie was on Kim with her head underneath the redhead’s chin. Kim had a hand on Bonnie’s stomach and caressed her flat belly. Though they might have looked peaceful, they were anything but since now they had to argue over what kind of movie they were watching.

“Damn it, come on! I really want to see that thriller!” Shego huffed.

“No way! We’re always watching some hack and slash movie with you. I’ve got the remote and we’re watching a comedy!” Kim declared as she turned to what she wanted to watch and then she put the remote in her pajama shorts’ pocket.

“Why don’t we ever watch romance movies? Isn’t that what this time on the couch is supposed to be about?” Bonnie pointed out. Her girlfriends were silent for a moment, only to look at her as if she was the strange one.

“Princess, turn to the thriller now,” Shego ordered, pointing a threatening finger at Kim.

“No, I want to see this,” Kim replied.

Bonnie laughed a bit and decided to join in because she really wanted to see a romance movie. They never watched romances, which she thought was strange for a trio of three women. It was just that Shego and Kim were not ordinary women, even though Kim was somewhat “civilized” in Bonnie’s opinion. She had some work on her hands trying to get Shego to where Kim was and she still had work to do with Kim.

They ended up watching the comedy that was on because Kim was the one with the remote and none of them were looking to move to start any real trouble. After that, they watched a romance movie just because it came on after the comedy and then they went to bed. All of that happened without Bonnie approaching the subject of Shego joining them at her family’s cookout.

-*-(New day)-*-

“Baby, I thought you said you were going to come with me,” Bonnie whined as Kim walked to the door. The redhead was dressed to leave the house while Bonnie was still in her pajamas since it was the morning.

“I am going to come with you. I just need to take care of this. I’ll be there,” the olive-eyed female promised.

“But, I don’t want to show up by myself,” the lawyer pointed out. She tried to get more sympathy by pouting.

“You don’t have to show up by yourself,” Kim replied.

Before Bonnie could say anything, Shego stepped in on the scene. She was also still in her pajamas and eating a granny green apple. She looked at her girlfriends, who looked back at her in return.

“What’s going on? Where you heading, Princess?” Shego asked curiously.

“I’m going out for the morning or so,” Kim answered the pale woman and then she turned to Bonnie. “And she would be why you don’t have to go alone,” Kim said to Bonnie while motioning to Shego.

“Go alone?” Shego echoed.

“You didn’t tell her?” Kim asked Bonnie with a slightly accusing look in her eyes.

“I didn’t think she’d care,” the tanned woman answered.

“What?” Shego asked again while Kim slapped herself in the forehead and shook her head. “What?” the former villainess repeated.

Bonnie sighed. “Well, my family is sort of having this barbeque today and I’m sort of going. Kim’s coming, too. I figured it wouldn’t be your scene and that’s why I didn’t say anything to you,” she explained.

Shego shrugged and bit her apple. It seemed like a plausible explanation and she could see how things would boil down to that. She usually passed on things because she was pretty sure she would be bored to death if she went. She did not think it was being supportive if she fell asleep at a gallery, whether it was for photos or in a court; not that she wanted to be anywhere near a court.

A family gathering did not seem like her scene, true, but it was a bit different from the other things. She supposed going with them to a Rockwaller family gathering would show she cared about Bonnie, like Kim did. She would be able to be supportive without the threat of nodding off or without being terribly uncomfortable because of the setting. If the people tried to say something to her, she could just say something back, or so she hoped anyway.

“So, what’s the deal?” Shego asked because she noticed Bonnie was not dressed while Kim was.

“Well, like I said, I’m going out and Bonnie doesn’t want to go by herself and she was planning to leave sometime soon,” Kim explained.

“Look, you don’t have to go,” Bonnie said to Shego, shaking her head a little.

The tanned woman thought she already asked a lot of her girlfriends. She sort of stripped them of their identities in her opinion. She requested Kim stop being a hero, which the petite redhead agreed to. She then requested Shego stop street fighting and even though Shego put up some resistance, the obnoxious woman conceded. The pair was now mostly homebodies, unless Kim had random things to do. She did not want to press her luck and completely ruin them.

“Demon child,” Shego sighed as she walked over to the two. She set her apple down on the table in the hall and put on hand on Bonnie’s shoulder. Her other hand went on Bonnie’s cheek.

“You don’t have to go,” the fiery lawyer repeated.

“Bonnie, believe it or not, I’m here just because you wanted me to be. You’re the one that invited me in sort of, you let me stay, you’re the one that gave me keys, and you’re the one that seems to bust my chops over every little thing. Anyway, the point is that if you want me to go, I’ll go,” Shego assured the younger female.

“Really?” Bonnie asked in disbelief. Her eyes were wide and it kind of hurt Shego to see how littler faith Bonnie had in her for something like this. She wanted Bonnie to have faith in her.

“Yeah, now quit whining. I want to see how many Rockwallers I can piss off in under thirty minutes anyway,” Shego remarked.

“Shego!” Kim scolded the ex-sidekick.

“Actually, that’s a brilliant idea,” Bonnie agreed with Shego and the two of them smirked like demons.

“I get the feeling this’ll be a barbeque they never forget,” Kim sighed, shaking her head.

“Hell, if I’m lucky, it’ll get me kicked out of the family.” Bonnie smiled.

“I’ll try my best,” Shego commented since Bonnie seemed all for bad behavior. _Maybe this thing won’t be so bad_.

Kim sighed again; what was she supposed to do with them? They marched upstairs to go get ready; the apple that Shego had been eating was forgotten as if it was rotten. Kim went about her business. She would meet up with them later.

Shego and Bonnie threw on some casual clothing. Shego went for very casual, putting on some tight black shorts and a tight grass-green tank top. When Bonnie caught sight of the pale woman, she was prepared to suggest they forget about the barbeque, but she doubted it would be right for them to do anything without Kim. Bonnie decided to make a note to open a discussion about them establishing what two of them could do when the third person was not around because they needed to talk about that, especially Shego was going to be wear things like that.

“What are you doing?” Shego inquired while resting her head on Bonnie’s shoulder when she noticed the lawyer doing something in her digital organizer.

“Nothing,” Bonnie answered while putting the device away. She had made an actual note to have that conversation.

“You’re always so secretive,” Shego commented in a teasing tone.

“You’re just nosy.”

“That, too.”

“Are you sure you want to come?” Bonnie asked. “I don’t want to push you into something you don’t want to do.”

“Let’s just go. I’m sure it’ll be fun,” Shego replied with a devilish smirk.

Bonnie decided to stop arguing. She was glad for the company. She did not even think about what might come up with her showing up with Shego on her arm and then Kim would turn up later. It probably would be fun, though.

The two of them finished getting ready and then hopped in Bonnie’s car. She drove a dark blue expensive sedan with a lovely tan leather interior. It seemed to scream the vanity that Bonnie was all about… or at least what she was all about to other people.

“You know, you should let me drive,” Shego said.

“Why? I know where we’re going,” Bonnie pointed out.

“So? I’ve wanted to drive this thing for a while. Consider it payment for me coming with you,” the pale woman replied.

“What? What happened to how you’re here because of me and everything?” Bonnie inquired incredulously.

“That was when you asked. We’re beyond that now.”

Bonnie snorted in anger, but she conceded because she believed Shego would actually just go back in the house if she did not get her way. Shego would not have done that, but it was a good bluff to get her behind the way. Of course, it stung just a little to know Bonnie had so little faith in her as to give into the bluff, but on the plus side, she would get to drive.

Shego had always wanted to drive Bonnie’s car. It seemed like it would be a better ride than Kim’s tiny car, which was a smooth drive, but Shego just hated Kim’s car. Kim did not have a problem with that and often taunted Shego by pointing out that she did not have to drive it if she did not like it.

The pale woman pulled out of the driveway and took off down the street. Bonnie did not say anything about the speed that Shego was going considering the fact that she drove just as fast, if not faster. Shego turned on the radio and listened to whatever cd Bonnie had in the player. They all shared a similar taste in music, so they could all stomach whatever the others threw at them.

Bonnie gave directions and they arrived at the Rockwaller home a half-hour later. Shego parked across the street from the large house. Shego recognized the sign of a big family just from the size of the house. Her parents had searched every each inch of the globe for a big house when her mother had her; her father knowing they would have more kids. So, now she wondered how many Rockwaller siblings there were.

“Any rules before I go in here?” Shego inquired. She did not want to do any damage to Bonnie.

“Nope,” Bonnie answered.

“None?” The pale woman was shocked and it showed on her face.

“None come to mind.”

“So, no siblings I should nice to?”

“Nope. Act like you always do.”

Shego smiled. “I like that I don’t have to be on my best behavior.”

Bonnie smiled, too. She honestly did not care about how Shego acted. She did not care what the older woman said to her family or anything. After all, they would not care what they said about Shego or her.

They marched to the backyard, where they could hear activity going on. They entered through a tall wooden gate and came into the wide backyard, which was half concrete and the other half was grass. There was a grill set up to the right, but there was nothing on it yet. There also a table with snacks, but nothing appealing to the pair at the moment.

They were focused on all of the people in the yard. It would seem Bonnie was the last Rockwaller sibling to show up. Bonnie had two older sisters and three older brothers and all of them were there. All of her siblings had also brought their spouses; only one of them was not married. Two of the siblings even had children.

“Bonnie, we didn’t think you were going to show up,” Connie remarked as she caught sight of the baby of the family.

“Why wouldn’t I? Don’t I always show up?” Bonnie pointed out. It was annoying, but somehow Kim always convinced her to come to these things.

“And who’s this with you?” Donnie, the eldest of the Rockwaller siblings, inquired. He was a tall, wide male with shoulder length brown hair. He had an oval face with smooth tan skin and turquoise eyes. He was dressed in a plain white t-shirt and jeans.

“This is Shego,” Bonnie answered. “My girlfriend,” she added in an unashamed tone.

All of the Rockwellers’ eyes went wide. Shego was just a bit stunned by the bluntness as well, but it did give her an idea that just about anything did go. She was glad there were no rules because she could see from the siblings reactions to the announcement that she would have to put a few of them in their place. Maybe the afternoon would be fun.

“What happened to Kim?” Johnnie, another brother, asked. He was the second to youngest. He was trim and tall, sporting short black hair with blue eyes. He was dressed in a basketball jersey to show off his muscular arms and jean shorts.

“She’ll be here later on,” Bonnie answered.

“What do you mean?” Connie inquired, her eyebrows drawing closer together and wrinkling her forehead.

“Just what I said. Kim’s going to show up later on,” the youngest sibling replied.

“But, you just said this woman is your girlfriend,” Donnie pointed out and the third brother nodded.

The third brother was build like Donnie, but a little slimmer. He had short blonde hair that was covered by a baseball cap and sapphire blue eyes. He wore a white sleeveless t-shirt and tan cargo shorts. His name was Ronnie and he sort of helped Bonnie in hating anyone with that name, which was why she used to give Stoppable such a hard time.

“I know what I said. Shego is my girlfriend and Kim is coming later,” Bonnie repeated.

“So, you broke up with Kim, but you’re still friends?” Johnnie guessed, his face scrunched up as he tried to figure out what was going on with her.

“No, so don’t get any ideas to try to pick her up when she does show up. You’ll only piss me off,” Bonnie replied. “Not to mention piss her off.” She pointed at Shego.

“Yeah, I hate seeing people hit on my Princess,” Shego commented with a demonic smirk. She was going to enjoy the day; she could just feel that in her bones. After all, it seemed like nothing was a secret and she could use that torment anyone she wanted. She had a feeling she would want to torment everybody, too.

“Your princess?” Johnnie echoed in a confused tone.

“Yeah, my Princess,” Shego repeated.

“Just what do you mean by that?” Ronnie inquired. It sounded close to a demand, but Shego liked to think no one, except Kim and Bonnie, would ever think to demand anything from her.

“Well, until I at least get your name, pal, I don’t see how that’s any of your fucking business,” the former sidekick answered.

“Hey, there are children present,” Donnie objected to her language.

“So the fuck what?” Shego asked curiously.

“You left Kim for her?” Johnnie asked his baby sister in disbelief. Kim was such a sweetheart while from what he could tell the green-skinned woman was crass and maybe even antisocial.

“I didn’t leave Kim,” Bonnie answered with an impatient sigh.

“Then what are you doing here with this woman?” Connie inquired while casting a disdainful look at Shego.

“Are you all really this stupid or just playing around because I’m here?” Shego countered.

“Hey, we don’t have to put up with your shit,” Ronnie huffed.

“And why isn’t he being reminded of children being around?” the former thief commented just to be annoying. She was already having fun and was happy that she came along.

“Bonnie, what the hell is going on?” Donnie demanded to know. He glared at Bonnie as if she were the worst human being on the planet.

“What aren’t you guys getting? Shego is my girlfriend and I’m still with Kim. Do the math,” Bonnie replied.

It had taken a lot of confidence building from Kim to get Bonnie to the point where she was able to talk to her siblings like she was. Thanks to Kim, she believed she was equal if not better than her siblings. Just because she was the youngest did not mean she was an easy target anymore, especially since she stopped wearing hand-me-downs and stepped out of their shadows. And just because she was lesbian did not mean they could look down on her.

“You’re not doing what it sounds like you’re doing,” Connie said.

“It’s bad enough you’re gay, but now you’re trying to tell us that you’re going out with two women at the same time with them knowing about it?” Donnie inquired with his lip curled in disgust.

“We’re all in a relationship,” Bonnie admitted with her chin in the air. She was not ashamed of what they were doing. They were three consenting adults and they were happy together. So, if anything, she was proud of it. She had seen couples in far worse shape than their trio.

“You mean to tell me you got two women and I can’t even get one?” Johnnie commented in sheer disbelief.

“You filthy perverted bitch,” Ronnie declared as if he was not speaking to his baby sister. Bonnie was actually taken aback by the outburst. Despite all of the horrible things they had ever said to her, they usually did not call her profane names.

“Watch your fucking mouth,” Shego growled and pointed a threatening finger at the middle brother. No one was going to talk to her girl like that, except maybe her and she would never say something so harsh seriously.

“You wanna make me?” Ronnie challenged the martial artist.

“I don’t see a fucking ‘s’ on your chest, so I suggest you back down before I decide to take you up on your offer,” Shego warned the blond male and she was one wrong move on his part from igniting her hands.

Ronnie growled and made a fist. He seemed ready to throw down, but everyone’s attention was turned away from the current conflict as they took notice of what looked like a body falling out of the sky. A parachute opened rather late in the drop and floated toward them, which let Bonnie and Shego know that the missing component of their threesome had arrived. But, they wondered why she was coming from the sky and not driving her car.

Kim dropped into a clear part of the backyard and quickly shed her parachute gear. She tossed it aside, figuring she would collect it when she left. She then scanned the semi-crowded backyard for her lovers and easy spotted them with the Rockwaller sharks, also known as the siblings. She wondered where the overly friendly mother was, just so she could avoid the woman.

“Kim, what was that all about?” Bonnie inquired as the redhead came over to them.

“I got rear-ended. My car is totaled,” Kim explained with a strange smile. She seemed so chipper for a woman that just got into an accident, but then again, she had just gotten to jump out of a plane and they knew how she felt about that. “I had to call in a favor to get here,” she added.

“That’s pretty obvious,” Shego commented. It amazed her that Kim would call in a favor just to come to a family gathering. She imagined how this devotion looked to Bonnie and realized she had to up her game to a degree. She did not want to change who she was, as her girlfriends fell for her and loved her for who she was, but she needed them to know how she felt about them through actions as well.

“So, what did I miss? Your mother curse my name yet? I’d like to skip that if I can,” Kim remarked.

“Mom doesn’t seem to be here,” Bonnie noted, glancing around the crowded backyard.

“She went out to get more charcoal for the grill. You’re going to tell her about this little freak fest you’re got going, aren’t you?” Donnie said as if he was insulted by the idea of Bonnie being upfront about her personal life.

“If she asks, yeah. And it’s not a freak fest. I bet we’re happier together than any of you,” Bonnie snapped. Kim and Shego were now her beloved family because they were the ones that supported her, so she damn sure was not going to let her brother call them freaks.

It would seem that Bonnie hit a mark of some kind. Her siblings looked insulted, but they did not say anything. She had actually shut them up. She felt proud of herself. For her entire childhood she had searched for something that would leave them speechless and it seemed that she had finally done it. She put it down as a mental achievement.

“I missed stuff, didn’t I?” Kim asked Shego.

“Nothing much. Bonnie just let them know we’re all girlfriends,” Shego answered.

“And they didn’t throw you out?” the redhead asked as if she was totally amazed and she was just that.

Kim remembered when Bonnie had come out to her family. It was at a family gathering, too. The Rockwaller tribe practically came after them with pitchforks and torches after Bonnie revealed she was a lesbian and in a relationship with Kim. Now, whenever they saw Kim, they acted like she was some kind of devil, no matter how nice she tried to be to them.

Mrs. Rockwaller seemed to believe that Bonnie was going through an “experimental phase” and tended to treat Kim as if she was never going to see her again after a gathering. So, Kim was usually ignored by her lover’s mother or berated for interfering in “Bon-Bon’s” life. Apparently, Bonnie was supposed to do like her other sisters and get married to a guy and her mother blamed Kim for that not happening. It would seem that the fact that Kim made Bonnie happy and brought out the best in Bonnie and had done so for years counted for nothing with Mrs. Rockwaller.

“Well, the blond was trying to get me to smear his ass all over the pavement in the front, but now that you’re here, you’d probably stop me,” Shego replied to the question of them being thrown out.

“Well, you can’t just go beating people up,” Kim pointed out.

“The demon child wasn’t objecting,” Shego countered and Bonnie made a face to show she concurred with their pale lover.

“That’s her. I am objecting. You can’t just beat up her brother,” Kim argued.

“Well, I didn’t like the way he was talking to her. If you had heard him, you probably would’ve fought me for the chance to go at him,” Shego stated and she unknowingly won the debate right there.

Kim opened her mouth, but she did not have a rebuttal. She knew when she first met Bonnie’s siblings, she wanted little more than to knock them all unconscious, except for Johnnie anyway. The only thing that stopped her was that Bonnie needed emotional support more than physical support after everyone got on her case for being a homosexual. They had called her so many horrible things and outright stated even worse things about what she did with her life. Kim wished she could protect Bonnie from all of it, shield her from all of it, but she pushed Bonnie to show them how wrong they were. She was the one doing the best out of all of them and Kim encouraged her to rub it in their faces, never letting them think they won.

With everyone thoroughly silenced by either Bonnie or Shego, all combatants retreated for the moment. Bonnie went to go introduce Shego to her siblings’ spouses while Kim was pestered by Bonnie’s nieces and nephew to do a magic trick. Kim knew some “magic,” enough to amuse small children anyway. They especially liked it when she made quarters appear from behind their ears. She figured they liked that because she let them keep the quarters. They were very little kids, so they did not know that quarters could not buy them much.

The siblings’ spouses acted a bit more civilized to the news than the siblings themselves. They probably just felt more inclined to be polite since they were not related to Bonnie by blood because it was clear from the looks on their faces that they were flabbergasted and appalled as they realized what was going on between Bonnie, Kim, and Shego. They might not have put it all together if only Kim was not at the barbeque, too, and Bonnie did introduce Shego as her “other girlfriend.”

Shego did try her best to mingle and be a just a tad civilized, but Lonnie ruined her concentration. The blond woman seemed to be trying to be snippy, but with her limited intellectual power, she had bitten off a bit more than she could chew when she decided to engage Shego. Lonnie teased Shego by asking who was the “man” in the relationship and she might as well have opened the gates of Hell.

“You know, I was wondering the same thing with you and your husband,” was Shego’s comeback, but it was just the tip of the iceberg. She hoped to bait Lonnie out into deeper waters where she planned to verbally drown the blonde.

“What do you mean? Obviously my husband’s the man,” Lonnie replied, obviously missing the joke.

 _Oh, boy_ , Shego thought. She might have to abort her mission. It was quite possible she could risk getting stupider by trying to go back and forth with Lonnie. It would seem that out of the sisters, she missed out on brainpower or good study habits or just whatever it was that made Bonnie reach being a lawyer and Connie being a doctor. Shego knew because Connie had yet to shut the hell up about her practice. Of course, she also knew business-wise the practice was not doing so well because Connie’s poor bedside manner and her husband’s poor money-management; Bonnie had all but screamed this to the mountains when Connie made a comment about her firm.

“How do you guys even do it?” Lonnie wondered aloud.

“Good question and I’d love to answer, but since you don’t look enough like Bonnie for me want to use you in a demonstration, how about I just use the real thing?” Shego commented and she grabbed Bonnie. She smirked as placed a lingering kiss on Bonnie’s cheek.

“You pervert! There are children present!” Donnie hollered as if he was thoroughly disgusted by the display.

“Right, maybe I should do this with a puppet show. Make it kid friendly and all,” Shego commented as if she seriously considered that idea.

Donnie huffed and seemed to decide right then and there to get his kids away from Kim since she was one of the “perverts.” Not that he liked when his kids hung around Kim before he knew that she was in a threesome. He thought homosexuality itself was for perverts and he seemed to think that Kim was going to molest his children or something when he was not looking just because she was a lesbian.

Connie was of like mind with her elder brother, so she pulled her daughter away from Kim. She had the same fear as Donnie, too, thinking Kim might one day molest her daughter just because she was a lesbian. Kim never understood how her being a homosexual led right to child molestation if children were around. She really had no desire to molest anyone, save Bonnie and Shego anyway. She damn sure was not inclined to touch a child in any way that might even be perceived as molestation.

It hurt Kim a bit to know that people thought she would hurt their children just because she was lesbian. It did not make any sense to her. Before she had a chance to dwell on that feeling, Johnnie seemed to come out of nowhere and offered her a cold beer to pick up her spirits.

“For a second I thought you and Bonnie split up,” Johnnie commented as he and Kim went to the fence and sat down away from everyone else. He was relieved they had not broken up, even though he was a little weirded out about what they had going on now.

“We’re never going to split up,” Kim replied with a confident smile. She would never let Bonnie go if it could be helped. She honest and truly loved that confrontational brunette.

“Just add on?” he teased with a tiny smile.

“We’re done adding on.”

“Whose idea was it to add on anyway?” he asked curiously. He was not sure which one of them would even think to suggest bringing a third person into their relationship. They always seemed so into each other, hugging and kissing, even though the rest of the family never wanted to see that sort of thing.

“You don’t want to know.”

“It was yours?” he guessed.

“Probably,” she answered cryptically.

“I hope you didn’t hurt my little sister with that stupid stunt.” Kim always found this a little sad about Johnnie, how he would play the overprotective big brother when no one was looking, but berate Bonnie just as badly as the others if someone was around. He was getting better, but when she first met him, he was just as harsh as the others. She knew the excuse for it, but still, wished he would get over it.

“It was rough waters for a moment or two, but now they love each other and I love them and we all love each other,” Kim replied. She believed they all did love each other now, which was great, even though Bonnie and Shego had to argue over everything.

“I can’t believe the balls on you three to just show up as if this is normal. They already give you a bunch of shit for being gay, but now, you’re not just gay. You’re a gay threesome. You’d probably piss them off less to leave Bonnie dating a goat,” Johnnie remarked.

Scoffing, Kim rolled her eyes. “Hey, they don’t matter to me. It’s all about Bonnie. We make her happy and that’s good enough for her. But, you know, you see this and we’re being ourselves, maybe you should try being yourself.”

“What-the-hell-ever. You know, I might even think this thing you got going is perverted,” Johnnie said, trying to stir clear of the subject the redhead tried to tackle. He knew he would not be able to avoid it forever, though.

Kim scoffed again. “Yeah, right.”

“No, maybe I do.”

“You don’t. If you did, you’d be yelling about it right now because no matter what, you are a Rockwaller. You know that what goes on between consenting adults is none of your damn business.”

Frowning slightly, he nodded. “I do know that. I also know that Bonnie is all right with it and even if it is a little dicey, I can be all right with it. Especially since I trust you with her.”

“You know I’ll protect her from everything I can, so you don’t have to worry.”

“I do know that.”

“So, back to you and trying to be yourself.” She knew that he had attempted to change topics on her, but she was not going to let it go until she could talk him into being himself. It was not like he did anything wrong.

While Kim and Johnnie talked over a couple of bottles of beer, Shego noticed them and that put her screwing around with Bonnie’s other siblings on hold. She noted how friendly they looked, smiling at each other and laughing at jokes she could not hear because of the distance. He even occasionally touched her Kimmie. She recalled how interested Johnnie had been because of Kim’s absence and was ready to go over there to start some trouble, but Bonnie noticed before anything got underway.

“Shego, don’t look so obviously jealous,” Bonnie commented.

“What?” Shego tried to play it off, but Bonnie knew the look in her emerald eyes. She had seen it several times; it even used to be directed toward her.

“I can see it in your eyes. Calm down. Kim and Johnnie always hang out when they see each other. It’s nothing,” Bonnie attempted to assure her lover.

“You sure?” the former thief inquired.

“I’m positive. Ever since I’ve been bringing her to family things, she always ends up talking to him. He’s just about the only one here that’ll talk to her. I think she’s helping him be less of a jerk,” Bonnie stated and she meant that.

Johnnie used to be a big jerk like all of the Rockwaller siblings. Kim seemed to do something to him when she started coming around. It was something like what she did for Bonnie from what the lawyer could tell. Kim built up Johnnie’s confidence in himself and helped him understand that he did not have to put people down to prove that he was worth something. He and Bonnie both learned to stand proudly by their own merits rather than measure their worth compared to their older siblings and that was thanks to Kim.

“You know, you should’ve brought him,” Kim said to Johnnie. They were now drinking sodas. Neither of them were heavy drinkers and really only seemed to touch beer when they were around each other.

“Are you kidding? You know how these guys are. I mean, they get on Bonnie just for being a lesbian and that’s nowhere near as a bad as me,” Johnnie argued.

Kim did not argue, even though she thought it was almost the same thing. There was just more machismo for Johnnie, which she knew made things harder for her. “So, you didn’t bring him to save yourself?”

“Well, not really. I did it for him. I didn’t want him to go through what you go through. I mean, you’re cool and they treat you like shit, even my mom and she usually likes every damn body. And speak of the devil,” Johnnie commented as Mrs. Rockwaller entered the backyard with her husband, who was carrying the charcoal.

“Damn it. I really don’t want to go through her yelling at me again,” Kim sighed.

“Don’t let her get you down. Her bark isn’t anywhere near as bad as her kids.”

“I’d rather them. It’s really bad to have someone that’s nice to everyone else be mean to you. She looks at me like she’s wishing me a slow death,” the redhead commented.

Johnnie did not argue that because his mother did look at Kim as if she was vilest creature on Earth. He could only wonder how things would go when their parents found out that Bonnie was in a relationship with Kim and Shego now. His mother would probably find some way to excuse Bonnie, but Kim and Shego would now get the dirtiest looks and glares possible from the short brunette woman. He had not even known his mother was capable of such looks until Kim showed up.

“Oh, it’s my little Bon-Bon,” Mrs. Rockwaller said with a grin and she embraced Bonnie rather tightly. Mr. Rockwaller went straight to the grill to start up the food because that would be the whole point of a barbeque.

“Bon-Bon?” Shego began snickering.

“Hey, don’t start up, firefly,” Bonnie replied, which caused the ex-thief to frown.

Mrs. Rockwaller released Bonnie and turned her attention to Shego. She frowned at the pale woman because she now believed that any woman in her daughter’s company was a lesbian and involved with her daughter. She was typically wrong with that assumption, but she was right on the money with Shego.

“Who’s your friend, dear?” Mrs. Rockwaller asked Bonnie, as if Shego was not standing there.

“I’m her girlfriend. Name’s Shego,” the former villainess informed her girl’s mother with a rather smug smile.

“Oh… what happened to Kim?” Mrs. Rockwaller asked Bonnie as if she really cared. She could just tell Kim was a more wholesome girl than Shego was already and she would rather her daughter “be gay” with a good girl than a slutty looking thing like Shego. Obviously, she had never heard of judging a book by its cover because she judged Shego on her outfit like it was all right.

“Kim’s over there with Johnnie,” Bonnie answered while pointing to the redhead, who still sat with Johnnie and tried to ignore Mrs. Rockwaller. The older woman glanced over at the former hero and she shot Kim a rather foul look.

“What’s she doing here if you’re in a relationship with this girl?” Mrs. Rockwaller inquired, trying to hold in a frown, but failed miserably.

Shego raised an offended eyebrow because she was referred to as “this girl” while she was standing right there. First of all, she had a name that she would like used and second of all, she was grown woman. She guessed she would have to start getting on the shorter woman in a moment.

“She’s here because she always comes with me, Mom,” Bonnie answered.

Shego glanced at her tanned lover and wondered why she did not just come right out and say that they were all in a relationship. Bonnie thought it would be better if her siblings filled her mother in because she thought that it would make her mother angrier and she would hopefully never have to go to another family gathering again. Who would want spend her free time hollering back and forth with decided assholes when she could just relax on a sofa for the day with her girls?

“Mom, you will not believe the shit your daughter is pulling,” Ronnie commented.

“Which daughter?” Mrs. Rcokwaller asked.

“Bonnie, of course,” Connie answered.

“What did she do?” Mrs. Rockwaller asked curiously.

“What do you mean ‘what did she do?’ She’s in a relationship with both Kim and this woman,” Donnie pointed out.

Once again, Shego was pissed because she was not being addressed by her name. If she ever got the chance, she was going to kick many Rockwaller asses until they were all crying her name for her to stop. She would have started already if only Kim was not there.

“What?” Mrs. Rockwaller asked in a very confused voice.

“They’re in a lesbian threesome,” Lonnie sneered as if this was most vile thing in all the world.

“A what?” Mrs. Rockwaller asked in sheer horror, hoping that “a lesbian threesome” was not what it sounded like.

“A lesbian threesome. She, Kim, and that woman are all in a relationship,” Donnie clarified, motioning to Shego with one hand, which let his mother know that it was what it sounded like.

Mrs. Rockwaller did not really comprehend how that worked, but she knew she did not like it. She was very old-fashioned, which was why she could not accept Bonnie being a lesbian in the first place. But, a threesome was totally beyond her. It was too complex and way too abnormal in her opinion, so she just could not even begin to understand how it worked.

The siblings all noted the bewildered look on their mother’s face, so they knew she did not totally get what they meant by “threesome.” Four of them silently decided they would spend the rest of the day trying to make the connection for their mother. They just wanted to get Bonnie in as much trouble as possible and hopefully embarrass their baby sister, too. Little did they know, but Bonnie did not care.

Bonnie figured her being in a trio would explain itself through out the day, if Kim ever got away from Johnnie anyway. Bonnie was looking for an excuse to never have to be around her family again, but her mother did not seem to be willing to provide that. Mrs. Rockwaller either failed to comprehend what her children were trying to tell her or decided to go into denial. The trio thing was just a phase, like Bonnie being a lesbian.

Mrs. Rockwaller believed that one day Bonnie would wake up and get married just like her sisters. In fact, she would get married to a successful and good man, as she believed Bonnie’s sisters had done. Bonnie would one day have children just like her siblings. Mrs. Rockwaller was certain of that and so, she did not have to listen to anymore of that lesbian nonsense. It would go away any day now, like a rash.

Bonnie probably would not have argued with her mother on some of those matters. She supposed that one day, she might get married. She just had always figured she would probably get married to Kim. With Shego in the picture now and everything going all right, she supposed that one day they could all make a commitment to each other with rings and everything since she was not too sure if there was a place on Earth that could or would legally marry three women to each other. And maybe, one day in the future, they might talk about having kids, but at the moment, none of them dared bring up the subject. The relationship was too new.

So, the barbeque did not go exactly as planned for Bonnie because it did not get her banned. Her mother remained in denial about the whole thing. When the siblings tried to explain to their father, he also went into denial about. He actually came out and said that it was “just a phase.” None of the siblings could believe their ears. It was like their parents expected Bonnie to grow out of it or something.

Shego, on the other hand, had a ball. She got to piss off quite a few Rockwallers and she managed to hustle Donnie and Ronnie out of a lot of money in a few games of pool. The Rockwallers had a game room in their basement complete with a pool table. She was practically grinning as she racked up their money, starting out betting dough she did not even have on her and ending up with most of what the brothers had on them. She ignored any dirty looks that came her way or snapped at the person glaring at her. If someone had something to say to her, she had something to say right back.

Kim, for the most part, stuck around with Johnnie since the children were not allowed around her, so she could not show them any more magic tricks. When she left Johnnie’s company, she went to hang around Bonnie. She watched as Mrs. Rockwaller glared daggers into her soul. She could practically hear the woman mentally commanding her to drop dead, as if her demise would stop Bonnie from being a lesbian.

The trio was the first to leave the barbeque as the sun set. They were glad to be out of there, even though Shego made a good deal of money. She even volunteered to take her two ladies out, explaining that it was on Donnie and Ronnie.

“Let’s go out tomorrow. I just want to go home and lay on the sofa,” Bonnie said.

“Why? That wasn’t so trying. It’s usually worse,” Kim pointed out. She was in the backseat, which she did not like too much. They informed her that if she did not like it, she should not have gotten into a car accident, which led to her pointing out that it was not her fault that she was rear-ended.

“I wanted Mom to yell at me and tell me to never come back, so I could never come back,” Bonnie said.

“Why do you need her permission? Why not just never go back?” Shego suggested. She knew she would never go back to her irksome family and she did not need an order to tell her that. She just did not want to go through the bother, especially considering what she had going on in her life now. Life was good, why spoil it with family nonsense?

“I don’t want it to seem like I’m abandoning them or someone won’t let the lecture end,” Bonnie replied while glancing back at Kim through the side mirror.

“We could always duct tape her up and throw her in the basement to shut her up. We’ll let her out for sex every now and then,” Shego remarked.

“Hey! That’s not funny.” Kim pouted.

Shego only laughed. Bonnie glanced back at Kim and smiled at her. The redhead smiled back, knowing she was being thanked for showing up, especially since she could have used the car accident as an excuse not to come. Kim was something like the post office when it came to promises, though. Through snow and through rain, she kept her promises. Kim’s motto might as well have been “come Hell or High water, I’ll keep my word” as far as Bonnie was concerned.

The trio returned home and they were all thankful to be there, even though Shego wished they had taken her up on her offer to go out. She wanted to show them a good time, show them she was there for them. She guessed there was always tomorrow and that probably would be better. They needed a whole day of fun to forget about the day with the jackasses that they had just had.

They all hopped into their pajamas and gathered on the beloved sofa. They all cuddled up and decided to watch a movie that they all could enjoy. They ate some junk food, too, and then Shego decided she was bored. She also decided to share that information.

“This is so boring. I’m so bored,” the older woman groaned, making sure to exaggerate it for them to understand how deep her boredom ran.

“Well, sweetness, if you’re so bored, why don’t you go do the dishes,” Bonnie suggested.

“Keep being a smart ass and I’ll relieve my boredom by fucking you on the kitchen counter,” Shego retorted.

“That probably would be the closest you’ll come to doing the dishes,” Kim remarked with a chuckle.

“Don’t you start, too,” Shego said.

“You know, you do bring up something that I think we should talk about, even though none of us want to,” Bonnie informed them.

“Kim’s closeness to Johnnie?” Shego guessed. She doubted that was the subject that Bonnie wanted to discuss, but it still bugged the hell out of her.

“Not that, but I guess since you want to throw that out there. Kimmie,” Bonnie said and attention shifted to the redhead.

“What are you two trying to get at? You think me and Johnnie got things going on?” Kim asked with a teasing smile on her face.

“Do you?” Shego demanded and Bonnie was right there with her, even though she long ago accepted nothing was going on. It would just be nice to hear Kim deny it because that would make it true.

Kim laughed. “You guys are funny. Johnnie’s gay,” she reported as if it was no big deal.

“What?” Bonnie said in shock and she turned around to face Kim completely.

“Yeah, Johnnie’s gay. He’s got a boyfriend and everything. He just doesn’t want to come out because your family is really homophobic. He figures if they treat me like crap because we’re lesbians then he just guesses that they’ll be worse to his guy because, well, he’s a guy. He feels like your siblings would eat him alive for being gay. He knows your mother is in denial about your sexuality and he doesn’t want to have to deal with that. He doesn’t want to have to deal with your brothers and sisters knowing he’s gay,” Kim explained.

“So, he confides in you?” Bonnie inquired in disbelief. She had to admit it made some sense for him to stay in the closet. Her siblings would probably rip Johnnie apart if they knew that he was gay.

“What did you think?” Kim countered.

“That he was having boy fantasies and trying to get into the pants of a hot lesbian,” Bonnie pointed out.

“Oh? You think I’m a hot lesbian?” Kim teased.

“Yes, you know that,” Bonnie replied and she pushed herself up to kiss the redhead.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Shego pretended to object. She was glad that mess with Johnnie was cleared up, even though she did not totally believe it. She would not put it past a Rockwaller to be lying and she thought Johnnie might have been lying about his sexual preferences to get into a hot lesbian’s pants just like Bonnie said. She would keep an eye on that kid.

“Right, back to what I wanted to talk about since I now know my brother is gay,” Bonnie said. She supposed that did explain a lot, like why Johnnie never had a girlfriend. He always liked to pretend that girls could not give him the time of day, even though he was a handsome bloke. If he did have a girl with him somewhere, he swore to the heavens that she was just a friend.

“What do you want to talk about?” Kim asked.

“Look, I know all three of us think about it and we all want an answer. So, I was wondering about sex and all three of us always having to be involved,” Bonnie answered vaguely.

“What do you mean?” Shego inquired, pretending she did not understand because she wanted everything laid out there. It would avoid misunderstandings in the long run.

“Look, I know how we all think about it. The whole ‘what if I come in and they’re going at like monkeys thing’ and we’re all kind of freaked out about it, but I also know that we all think about it when it is just two of us around and we want… stuff,” Bonnie explained.

“So, what are you saying?” Kim asked.

Bonnie had to take a deep breath before she continued. “I just want to know if we all have to be around for sex or if it is just two of us around that it’s all right. I mean, if the other person walks in, does that person have the right to be upset or—”

“The other person can shut the hell up and get undressed and join in,” Shego interjected. She knew she would, but then again, she might also feel a little bothered by Kim and Bonnie starting sex without her.

“This is what I’m saying,” Bonnie concurred. “I mean, it shouldn’t be as big a deal as we make it out to be. We all trust each other, right?”

“Yeah,” Kim said and Shego looked away, which they knew was her way of agreeing. She just could not say it out loud.

“So, it should be all right now, right?” Bonnie asked.

The other two agreed. It made sense to them. They all trusted each other and they all did think about things when it was only two of them around. So, it was good that they cleared that up. They would probably have to put it into practice to be truly comfortable with the idea, though, just like their relationship in general.

“But, does this mean when I come home from work everyday you two are going to be going at each other like rabbits?” Bonnie asked with a little fear in her voice.

“Hmm…” Shego faked considering that idea.

“Shego! Don’t tease her like that. Bonnie, we like practicing our fighting when you’re at work, okay? So, don’t worry,” Kim assured the lawyer.

“Wait, wait, wait, are we just going to be practicing everyday now that I’ve got permission to break you in half when the demon child is at work? What was the point in even having this discussion, anyway, then?” Shego inquired.

“Yeah, that would put us back at square one,” Kim conceded in a mumble.

“Damn it, we’re all rational, kick-ass women in a steady, good, and interesting as hell relationship, two of us can get down and dirty and if the third one happens to come in on it, she should take a deep breath and just join in because she knows she wants to. We all love each other and that’s that. We’re not cheating on one if they’re not around as long as we’re still with someone involved in this whole sorted affair. Now, let’s shut up and watch this shitty movie,” Shego declared.

The other two laughed a bit. Leave it to Shego to put things bluntly, but make sense all at the same time. They all turned their attention back to the movie and guessed that they would see how things went the first time that they tried to put the two-way sex thing into practice. Wow, regular two-way sex with no one watching actually sounded strange to them as they thought about it, but they supposed that one day it would seem normal, just like everything else in their lives.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: putting this decision into practice leads to a fight.


	4. Median

4: Median

Bonnie sighed as she came in to what appeared to be an empty house. She would be so lucky if it was empty, but she knew better than that. The house was never empty when it looked that way. She hoped her lovers were in the backyard. She went to check there first and noticed that they were not there. She sighed again.

She started for the stairs while pulling at her tie. She often wondered why she wore ties with her suit because she thought that they kind of annoying, but then she always remembered. The reason she wore ties with her suit was because Kim thought it was sexy. The first time she had worn a tie, Kim had eyed her like it was their first time ever being together. She liked getting that look, so she wore ties as much as possible and she always did get that look when Kim saw her. _And yet, I’m not sure if I want it now. After all, what they’re doing can’t be healthy_. 

She pulled the tie off as she got to the upstairs and she could hear them already. She shook her head as she opened the door and found just what she expected to find. Kim and Shego were in bed together, going at it. Again. Mentally, Bonnie groaned.

“You two,” Bonnie said with a sigh, calling attention to herself.

Shego and Kim turned to look in the doorway. They greeted her with a couple of tired “heys” in rather unashamed tones. It did not matter to them that she had walked in on them naked, bodies glistening with sweat, and in the throngs of passion. It was nothing new.

“I can’t believe you’re doing it again,” the tanned woman sighed, shaking her head. She was starting to regret their agreement that two of them could go at it if the third person was not around and it was not because she was feeling left out.

“Shut up, demon child. Get naked and come on in,” Shego replied from her position on top of Kim. The redhead nodded quite enthusiastically, obviously very in favor of that plan.

“No, I’m not joining in,” Bonnie said, which surprised her lovers. Wide green eyes stared at her.

“Why not?” Kim asked curiously. Bonnie always joined in when she came home. Why was she not joining in now then?

“Because I’m tired. I joined in last night, yesterday afternoon, the night before that, the afternoon before, and so forth and so on. I’m tired and this isn’t healthy. You two can’t just pass the time having sex. What happened to your sparring?” Bonnie demanded, pointing in the direction of the backyard. It took all of her willpower not to throw her hands up because she was so frustrated with them.

To the tanned lawyer, it seemed like all her lovers did now was have sex. Every time she came in from work, they were in the bedroom…well, with luck they were in the bedroom anyway. Sometimes, they were in the living room or in the den, on the furniture or on the floor. Once she came in, they were in the kitchen and it was clear that they had gotten off track when making sandwiches one day, the ingredients all spread out on the counter while Kim was propped up on the sink. It was getting out of hand.

Kim and Shego did not even make love anymore. Hell, they did not even fuck like animals in Bonnie’s opinion. At least animals had cycles and reasons for doing what they did. Kim and Shego had sex for the same reason people watched television or put together models. They were bored and it was something to do.

“We sparred all this morning. There’s only so much sparring you can do,” Kim answered.

“Well, you two need some hobbies or something. You can’t just keep fucking like this,” Bonnie commented.

“This is all we have aside for sparring. You took all the fun stuff away. I’m shocked you don’t stop us from handling knives in the kitchen,” Shego replied, sounding just a bit frustrated herself and Bonnie knew it was not from lack of physical satisfaction.

“Well, not only was your idea of fun dangerous, but it was also illegal. I just don’t want anything to happen to either of you,” the tanned woman argued. “Is it a crime to care now?”

Shego snorted. “Something can happen to us walking down the fucking street. Should we stop walking down the street, too?”

“Neither of you even do that. You stay in fucking house all day, fighting and fucking,” Bonnie retorted with a frown.

God, Bonnie wished her lovers would just walk down the street. They acted like they could not do anything outside. They sparred in the backyard and screwed around in the house. Every now and then Kim went out and shopped and Shego would cook, but they did not do much else, especially if it involved going outside. They did not even get the mail, more often than not. Bonnie would just get that when she came in from work.

“Because there’s nothing better to do,” Shego huffed.

“I don’t give a damn. Now, get off Kim and both of you put your clothes on. Go for a damn walk or something,” Bonnie ordered.

“No,” Shego replied and she rocked her hips, pushing her thigh against Kim. The younger woman could only moan.

“Stop it,” Bonnie ordered with a frown.

“No.” Shego moved again and Kim hissed.

Bonnie marched over to the bed and picked up a pillow. It was clear that she was going to slap Shego with the fluffy headrest, which was probably why Shego caught the pillow as it came flying at her head. The pale woman turned her attention back to Bonnie. They scowled at each other with fury.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Shego demanded as she yanked the pillow away.

“Let her up and both of you get dressed. You have to go outside sometime. You have to do something else aside from this routine you two have worked yourselves into. You’re only doing this to kill time,” Bonnie pointed out.

“We’re doing it because it feels good,” Shego argued.

Blue eyes rolled and Bonnie scoffed. “You’re doing it because you don’t have anything better to do. Now, stop being annoying and get dressed.”

“Make me.”

“Kimmie, back me up here. You know this isn’t healthy,” Bonnie said.

Kim glanced away as if her name had not been said. She was not picking sides at the moment, especially since she could understand where they both were coming from. She and Shego did have sex almost every afternoon more out of boredom than anything else. It was just something to do when sparring got old. They would go outside more if they could do the things that they used to, but they had promised not to. They used to do dangerous, high-risk things; a lot more high-risk than walking down the street. They just did not see the point in going outside if they could not do what they used to and they could not just sit on the couch and watch television all day either.

“Don’t try to bring Kimmie in this, especially since she’s with me in this argument,” Shego said to Bonnie.

“She’s not with you in the argument,” Bonnie huffed.

“Of course she is. You think Princess likes sitting around flicking cards in a hat when she could be out saving the world from a blizzard-mudslide-volcano-earthquake-brushfire-hurricane-tornado-typhoon-monsoon-flashflood-alvanache-alien-baboon-terrorists attack?” Shego inquired in a bit of a loud tone.

“Alien baboon terrorists attack?” Kim muttered. She had to admit that the ex-villainess had an imagination if nothing else to have come up with that one.

“What, you’re mad I care about you and don’t want you to get hurt? Is that it?” Bonnie demanded with a glare. It seemed like she was being harped on because she wanted her lovers to live to see old age.

“I don’t need you holding my hand through everything and worrying about shit. I’m a big girl and so is Kimmie. We know what we’re capable of,” Shego retorted, pointing to herself.

“Oh, so I shouldn’t care anymore? Fine, you’re capable. Fuck you!” Bonnie declared and she stormed out of the room.

“Fuck you!” Shego hollered to the lawyer’s retreating form.

“Bonnie!” Kim called and she crawled out from underneath Shego.

“Oh, now you’re going to go cuddle her, right?” Shego huffed.

Kim opened her mouth to say something, but what could she say? If she said that she was going to check on Bonnie, Shego would get pissed and swear that she was taking Bonnie’s side. If she left Bonnie out there, Bonnie would swear to life that no one cared about her and she was a waste of space. _Being in love with two women is no a picnic. Who are these guys that voluntarily have more than one wife?_

“Look, Shego, I know this is hard, but Bonnie does it because she cares. We’re her family to her, okay? Really, we’re her only family considering how her parents and siblings treat her. She doesn’t want to lose us,” Kim said as she stood up and put on a robe; she was not willing to chance giving a neighbor a show if they had a window open somewhere in the house.

Still scowling, Shego sat up and folded her arms across her chest. “She needs to lighten the fuck up. We didn’t take everything away from her that had meaning to her, did we? She doesn’t do it because she cares. She does it because she wants to be in control.”

“That’s not it and you know it,” the redhead stated. She knew Shego was only saying those things because she was upset with Bonnie. They both knew Bonnie only did what she did because she worried about them and cared about them. Of course, it was also driving them rapidly insane, so maybe the frustration and insanity was talking right now.

“It is and you can go out there and cradle and cuddle her and let her control your fucking life, but I won’t. Fuck you, Bonnie!” Shego called extra-loud to make sure the tanned woman heard her.

“Shego!” Kim hissed, glaring at the older woman.

Emerald eyes cut sharply to Kim. “And fuck you, Princess, for taking her side.”

“Look, I know you’re upset,” Kim said through clenched teeth. She was used to arguments, but they had never had one like this. They had never argued where everyone walked away angry… well, walked away if they were mature. She was close to just decking Shego and settling things the old-fashion way. But, she was fairly certain that would lead to a whole different argument and it would only make matters worse.

Shego scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Don’t try to patronize me either, Princess. Get the fuck out and go cuddle your fucking baby.” She waved Kim off.

Kim’s expression became a little more severe. “Don’t order me around.”

“Right, only Bonnie can do that because Bonnie’s so super-fucking-special. If she means so much to you, why the fuck am I even here?” Shego inquired, her mouth was starting to run away with her.

“If you’re going to act like this, why the fuck are you even here?” Kim countered.

The words seemed to hit Shego harder than either of them thought they would. Shego scowled while Kim regretted she said, but she knew she would not be able to take them back. Shego was too stubborn to listen, but she would try to mend things anyway.

“That’s how it is, huh?” Shego asked while trying to sound normal. Her jaw was too tight, though. She barely opened her mouth to speak. She could not even look Kim in the eye as she made the inquiry.

“Shego, love, you know I didn’t mean it that way,” Kim replied, taking a step toward the bed.

“No, no, I know how you meant it. Fine, I’ll leave.” Shego hurried off of the bed to get dressed.

“Shego, you know I didn’t mean for you to leave,” Kim implored, putting her hands out as if that would help.

“No, I’m gone. I won’t bother you or the demon child ever again. Fuck both of you.”

“Shego—” Kim tried to say.

“Oh, go to hell, Kimmie!” Shego shouted while trying to force down tears that gathered in her eyes. She refused to cry, especially when it was her girls that were being assholes. She should be happy to get out of there.

The former hero decided to stop talking since she was obviously just making it worse. She thought maybe it would be best if she let Shego leave for the moment. They could all cool down and regroup. They would then be able to talk things out like normal adults, and hopefully no one would have to get hit for that to happen.

Kim exited the room to find Bonnie while Shego continued to get dressed. Shego muttered profanities as she threw her things on. _I should’ve fucking known better_. _I should’ve fucking known Kim and Bonnie will always side together_. She would always be second to both of them. She was just the outsider that was tolerated in their couple. Well, to hell with them.

 _I don’t need them_ , Shego grumbled mentally. I _can get along without them. Fuck, I have gotten alone without them_. What good did they do her anyway? All Kim did was spar. She could find thousands of people to do that. Bonnie cooked. _Wow_ , she thought sarcastically. She could go to a restaurant for that, if she did not feel like doing it herself anyway. And they both screwed her. _In more ways that one_. Well, one kind of screwing she could do without and the other, well, women used to throw themselves at her and she was willing to bet that had not changed. So, she did not need Kim or Bonnie.

Shego trampled down the stairs once she was dressed. She glanced into the den since it was the first room that could be seen from the stairs and saw it was empty. She wondered where Bonnie had run off too and if Kim had found her. _Fuck them_ , she thought as soon as she realized they were in her mind. She went to the door and made sure to slam it as hard she could as she left the house. She wished she had broken the stupid fucking door.

Kim heard the door slam, which let her know Shego had left. Kim continued her search for Bonnie, though. The tanned woman had not fled to the den or the living room or the kitchen. She wondered if Bonnie had even come downstairs. And then she saw Bonnie sitting out on the deck.

“Baby,” Kim said as she exited the house and went to sit with her girlfriend. She was glad she wore a long robe since Bonnie was outside.

“Leave me alone,” Bonnie grumbled, frowning and making sure not look at the redhead.

“You know I won’t,” Kim replied in a soft tone. She wanted to put her arm around Bonnie, but she figured that would be a good way to lose an arm.

The redhead wondered if she was getting the cold shoulder because she had taken so long to come after Bonnie. Maybe Bonnie thought she had sided with Shego on the matter and that was why she had taken so long. If that was the case, today was going to be a long day. _Again, why the hell do some people go into stuff like this on purpose?_

“Baby, you know she didn’t mean that. She just has cabin fever,” Kim tried to explain. She knew both she and Shego were probably going stir crazy and just failed to recognize it completely.

“I knew you’d side with her,” Bonnie hissed in anger.

“I’m not siding with her,” the redhead huffed. Why the hell did they assume she had picked a side? She was just trying to keep them all together.

“Don’t get bitchy with me,” Bonnie said because of Kim’s tone.

“Damn it, Bonnie, stop trying to pick a fight with me,” the former hero replied in a frustrated tone, throwing her hands up for a second.

Bonnie growled. “I’m not trying to pick a fight with you! I just want you to leave me the fuck alone! I know you’re with her, even if you’re going to try to act neutral. You’re with her, so fuck you, too.”

Kim looked rather offended. She was getting told “fuck you” too many times in one evening to feel comfortable with stitching up any wounded egos. So, at the moment, fuck them too.

“Fine, fine, fine,” Kim conceded, holding her hands up in surrender. “You can go ahead and sit here and be pissy. But, for the record, I’m not siding with her. But, I’m not siding with you either.”

“So the fuck what?” Bonnie snorted.

And on that note, Kim was gone. She did not need the stress at the moment. She was already bored out of her fucking mind and she would rather not fight with everyone over something stupid. She was going to go do some fucking bungee jumping, which would take her mind off of all of this madness. So, she went and through on some clothes and left the house, leaving Bonnie to stew in her own anger.

Bonnie wanted to believe she was happy that Kim was gone. She truly thought Kim sided with Shego and she did think that was why it took Kim so long to come find her. She was quite hurt that Kim had sided with Shego on the matter, but she tried to ignore that feeling as it burned her chest and caused bubbles in her stomach. She tried to tell herself she did not care if they wanted to be against her and how they did not want her to care about them. If that was the case, then fine, she was not going to care.

“Screw them,” she muttered to bolster herself.

 _They can go out and do all of the dangerous bullshit they wanted to do_. Fine, they could go get killed if that was what they wanted to do. She did not care; at least if they went out and got killed it would mean less work for her. She would not have to cook for them anymore. She would not have to clean up after them when they tussled in the one of the rooms in the house. She would not have to worry about their health anymore. Most of all, she would not have to come home to find them fucking each other silly for no reason anymore.

She could not believe they made sex seem like a bad thing. They just did it so much and for such a pitiful reason. She thought they would find better things to do with their time, even though they had agreed to stop doing all of those life-threatening things that they did, but she supposed she had too much faith in them.

“I should’ve known better. Why the hell did I expect Shego to do something sensible anyway?”

She swore Kim would have at least gone out and volunteered in a billion or so groups. Kim was always volunteering when she went out to do those missions. The redhead hardly even had time for her back then and now all of sudden when she had nothing but time on her hands, all Kim did was spar with Shego in the morning and screw around with Shego in the afternoon.

Bonnie often joined in the adult play before today, but she was tired and she did not think that it was healthy for them to keep doing it. Sometimes, she joined in just to join in. It was nice that they always invited her rather than just keep going and she never felt left out, but they were just doing it too much.

She just wanted them to do something with their time to keep them from being bored and to make sure that they did not die young while doing it. But, they did not want to do something safe. _And I don’t care anymore. Screw them_. They could go ahead and get themselves killed. She could always go out and find another girlfriend… well, girlfriends.

All right, it might be hard to find two girlfriends, but she could find at least one. She was a successful lawyer, after all. She was gorgeous and a great dresser. Thanks to Kim, she was as confident as she acted. She definitely could go and get another girlfriend. A girlfriend who appreciated that she cared and wanted to do stuff for her. So, screw them.

-8-8-8-8-

Kim did some bungee jumping, planning to forget about her argumentative girlfriends and just let gravity do its thing. She found it relaxing, like some people found hot tea. She was not sure if that was strange thing or not and she did not care if it was. How the hell did she get into that mess anyway?

She just had to love two women that were antagonistic to a fault. If she was with someone(s) that was rational, then they could have at least talked things out. But, no, they had to argue and swear that they were right and that was that. There was no middle ground or wiggle room or anything.

She did not bother to ask herself why she put up with them. She knew why. She just hoped everything was better when she finally went home, but she did not plan on going home anytime soon. She knew they would not cool down that quickly. She did not even want to think about how long it might take for those two to calm down, especially when they both swore to high heavens they were right.

She was not sure what she was going to do after the bungee jumping, but there were plenty of other things to do. She considered she would do other things she had agreed to stay away from while she had the excuse of being upset with Bonnie. She missed doing things like bungee jumping, or base-jumping, or free-falling, and all of that other good stuff that she seemed to stop doing when she gave up along being a hero.

She was not sure why she stopped all of that other stuff when she quit doing the hero thing, but she had given up. Maybe it was because it all seemed so pointless or maybe it was because Bonnie considered those things “dangerous” and she tried to make Bonnie happy. It was not like she was bungee jumping for a real reason right now. She was doing it just to do it now. Sort of like when she and Shego passed time having sex.

Maybe it was not healthy to screw around for a whole afternoon everyday, but it gave her and Shego something to do. Everything else seemed so boring to them. They could have easily gone out and done all sorts of things, but they just did not feel like it. They did not see the point.

So, every afternoon when they were finished with sparring and had lunch, they would sit down and try to figure out what to do with their free time. They would think of dozens of things, some to do inside and some outside. But, everything they mentioned, they did not feel like doing. So, they would start fooling around and end up having sex to relieve the boredom. Sex had even lost meaning to them. 

 _So, maybe Bonnie was right_. Maybe it was unhealthy to fuck around all day like she and Shego did. It should mean something to touch the women that she loved, but now, it was like everything else. _That’s not good_. She did not want things to be like that. She wanted to feel an emotional connection to Shego when they were intimate. She would like to make love to Shego again, but for that to happen, they would have sit down and talk. And it was hard to talk to Shego when she was angry.

“Actually, impossible to talk to Shego,” Kim grumbled to herself as she gathered her equipment to get prepare for her jump.

So, with luck, Shego would have cooled down when she got home and Bonnie would have calmed down as well. Then, they could get everything cleared up… whatever everything was. It would probably be a very long talk and they probably were not going to get around to everything they needed.

She thought it was going to be long because she was actually in agreement with both of them. She did miss being a hero and she should probably tell Bonnie that. If she brought that up, Shego would make it known she missed just doing extreme things in general and she wanted to go back to street fighting or something like that. But, Kim understood that Bonnie cared and did not want anything to happen to her or Shego. She was not sure what the middle ground was.

Well, she would try to figure that out while bungee jumping. After bungee jumping, she might find a place to do some rock climbing or actually just go climb a mountain somewhere. And if necessary, she could always go places and check on her photos, see if she sold a print or something. She had not even done a lot of photography lately, but that was probably because those tended to be connected to her missions and, well, those were done. Kim sighed. _Our talk might never end_. Shaking that from her head, she dived off of a very tall bridge.

-8-8-8-8-

Shego wandered around the neighborhood with no place to go and no place in mind. She just wanted to get away from those… ah, she did not even know what to call them in her mind. She knew she wanted to get away from them, far, far away.

 _Why the hell did I even agree to stay with them?_ Kim and Bonnie were always going to side with each other if something came up. That was just how they were. It was always going to be them against her and she did not need to put up with that.

“I’m the outsider. They’ve been a couple and friends and whatever the hell they were before that long before I came along. They’re always going to back each other up,” she muttered with a frown as she rounded a corner.

 _Then, why the hell do I put up with them in the first place? Why am I living with them?_ She did not have to stay with them and she did not have to put up with them. So, why did she? Why did she not go back to her old life?

She could not figure out the answer to her questions just yet. _Maybe it’s the sex_. She was getting sex from two women at the same time. A lot of people would pay to have her sex life. Hell, if she did not have her current sex life, she would pay to have it. Two fine, beautiful, lovely, flexible women within reach simultaneously? It was making her hot just thinking about it. So, it was quite possible that she stuck around for the free sex… and the free food.

Yeah, the food was practically divine. Bonnie could cook really well. It seemed she had taken up the activity when it became extremely clear she and Kim would not be able to survive if she counted on Kim to cook and they could not afford to have takeout all the time. Bonnie seemed to throw herself into something completely when she really felt it necessary to know or if it was something that she truly wanted.

Okay, so she stayed around for the free sex and the free food. She did not have to sit around and put up with Bonnie’s bullshit then. She did not have to sit there and listen to Bonnie. She could do whatever the hell she wanted. Yeah, she could do what she wanted. So, she was going to go and do something that she wanted to do.

“Because I’m a grown ass woman and I’m not going to let some skinny little homebody tell me what to do,” she declared with her chin in the air.

The former villainess walked all the way from the suburbs to the inner city and went into a bar, a tough looking bar. She entered and looked around, the dim lighting and harsh smell of blood and sweat. From all the biker-looking fellows in the pub, she was pretty sure she picked a good place to start her trouble. _Well, if I’m going to start some trouble, I might as well make some money while doing it_. She scoped out the place to try to decide what was the best way to do both.

Shego decided to shoot some pool and just wait for someone to get pissed that she took their money. It did not take too long for that to happen. She won a couple of hundred bucks and it was funny that the first thing that came to her mind was that she could take her girls out tomorrow. She had forgotten she was angry with them and that she was sick of them. Pride swelled in her, but not the usual form, not her usual arrogance. It was almost a happy feeling and then she recalled her anger.

“Screw them,” she snarled under her breath as she took another shot and sunk another ball.

Once she won a little beyond the initial couple of hundred dollars, the man she played got upset. He stood over her and tried to intimidate her with large size. He was selling it well, but she was not buying. It took all of her willpower to not outright laugh in his face, but the smartass smirk she wore could not be stopped.

“How about you give me my money back?” he suggested with a bit of a glare. He growled a little at the end of the question, like a menacing bear.

“How about I stick this pool cue up your ass and take the rest of your money?” she countered while hitting him in the shoulder with the pool stick.

He snarled; apparently, he did not think that was a good idea. He thought he had a better idea. _Idiot_. He took a swing at her and it was on. She cracked him over the head with her pool stick and his friends did not seem to take kindly to that. They attacked and she happily fought back, grinning the whole time. And a single thought floated through her mind as she did: Fuck Bonnie.

-8-8-8-8-

He could not believe that he had been sent out for chocolate milk. Out of all of the people that could have been picked, it had been him, he thought with a sigh. Well, he supposed it could have been worse. He could have been getting shot at or something to that effect, as it did happen. Being sent out for chocolate milk was a lot better than being shot at or karate chopped or something dangerous that could get up with him dying. Yeah, dying was bad, so getting milk was not so awful.

As he left the corner store, he noted a bunch of bikers fleeing a bar. He wondered what was going on, but he was not willing to go over there and check it out. He was happy to not be in a fight, after all. So, at the most, all he would do was watch and maybe run if the police showed up.

And then, he noticed someone intriguing fleeing the scene. Sure, he was across the street, but the person was kind of hard to miss. She had green skin, after all. He could have sworn she was dead, though. Well, he would have let the boss know about that and he had better get that chocolate milk back, too. After all, the boss got cranky when he did not get his chocolate milk… or cocoa-moo as he called it.

-8-8-8-8-

Kim arrived home rather late. She had done a number of activities and she thought Shego would be back home by now and they might all be able to talk. If not, well, she could still make a sandwich. Kim was always up for a sandwich.

The redhead entered a quiet house. She wondered if she was actually the only one home. She went upstairs and found Bonnie in bed. She supposed that made sense because Bonnie had work in the morning. She sighed; it was probably great to have some place to go everyday. _Don’t dwell on it, Possible. You’re safe and that keeps Bonnie from going crazy_.

She went back downstairs to make her sandwich. Halfway into making her food, she heard the door open. She guessed Shego was back. She decided to go greet the pale woman. After all, there was a slim chance that Shego was done being a bitch. And if that was the case, she was willing to forgive Shego for yelling.

“Hey, love,” Kim said to Shego from the end of the hallway and then she caught a glimpse of Shego’s face. “What the hell happened to you?” the younger female inquired. _Bonnie’s going to have kittens when she sees this!_

“I went out and had some fun. And I got hurt in the process!” Shego called upstairs, knowing the lawyer was more than likely trying to get some sleep. She did not care; she wanted to wake Bonnie up. She wanted Bonnie to see her face, to see the joy in her eyes, and to understand what Shego needed to feel alive.

“Shego, she has work,” Kim pointed out.

The former villainess rolled her eyes and scoffed. “Oh, yeah, keep taking her side.”

“I’m not taking her side!” the former hero huffed loudly, throwing her hands up. _How the hell did I manage to fall in love with two women who hear what they want to hear?_

“What the hell are you two yelling about?” Bonnie inquired from the top of the stairs.

“Nothing, baby. Go back to sleep,” Kim said.

“No, we’re yelling about how I went out and had some fun. Do you know what it involved? It involved gambling, fighting, and running from the cops. But, most of all it involved me getting hurt,” Shego informed Bonnie as if what she had done was an accomplishment. She even puffed out her chest a little.

Bonnie’s eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open a bit from shock and then she narrowed her gaze and her eyes got angry. It was like Shego had done that to spite her. Shego was such an idiot that she had gone out and put herself in danger just to be spiteful. _What the hell am I supposed to do with her? Doesn’t Shego realize she’s hurting all of us by acting like this?_

“You’re a fucking moron, you know that?” Bonnie said to Shego.

“I had fun. No thanks to you,” the emerald-eyed female replied.

Bonnie frowned. “No thanks to me? No thanks to me, what? Daring to fucking care?”

“Caring isn’t being a nag,” Shego snapped back.

“No, but caring is about making sure you live through the year,” Bonnie growled.

Snorting, Shego rolled her eyes again. “Wrapping me in plastic and putting me in a box isn’t caring and it damn sure isn’t living.”

“You know what,” Bonnie said, looking back and forth between her two girlfriends. She still upset with both of them she decided, mostly because Shego was being an ass and Kim was probably on Shego’s side. “You both do whatever the hell you want to do. You want to go out there and get yourselves killed, fine by me. I don’t give a fuck.” She threw her arms up and stormed off.

A door could be heard slamming, which they presumed was the bedroom door. Kim and Shego looked at each other. Kim frowned and Shego scowled.

“Are you happy now?” Kim asked, glaring hard at the older woman.

“Yes!” Shego answered as if that was obvious.

“How the hell can you be happy? She only does this because she cares,” Kim said.

“Well, I didn’t ask her to care. I didn’t ask either of you to care,” the pale woman huffed, pointing at Kim.

“That’s bullshit,” Kim replied.

Sucking her teeth, Shego looked down at the floor. “Maybe it’s not.”

Kim gasped. “You don’t mean that.”

Shego’s head snapped back up and she frowned more. “Yeah, maybe I do. If caring means that you two are going to take away everything that makes me enjoy being alive, then maybe I don’t need your fucking caring.” Shego stormed out of the house again.

Kim screamed at the top of her lungs and stomped her foot in utter frustration. They were going to drive her mad! She went back to the kitchen and focused on something that at least would not piss her off, her sandwich. Her stomach rolled and churned through the entire production. She looked down at it when she was done.

“Great, now I’m not even hungry anymore,” Kim sighed and she hit the counter with her fist in aggravation.

Kim decided to just call it a night. She went upstairs to find the bedroom door locked. She sighed hard through her nose. _Oh, the day just seemed to get better and better_. So, Bonnie was so pissed they were not even allowed in the bedroom. _Great_.

“Can I at least have some pajamas?” Kim called through the door.

The door was cracked a few seconds later and her pajamas were flung out along with a pillow before the door slammed shut again. It would seem that she was on her own for a blanket. _What the hell? I didn’t even do anything!_ She sighed and decided not to think about it.

Kim took a shower, hoping the hot water would relax her some. It did not help much and a knot remained tight in her stomach. She threw her pillow on the sofa and then went to the linen closet for a cover. She curled up the sofa, wondering what she could do to make things better. Nothing came to mind yet. She supposed they might be able to talk things out in the morning if Shego and Bonnie were done behaving like… well, themselves.

-8-8-8-8-

Shego returned home later that night, or early that morning depending on who was telling the time. She went upstairs and noticed that the bedroom door was locked. _Oh, come on!_ A growl rumbled low in her throat. She figured she would just pick the lock; there was no way that they would make her sleep on the couch.

“I should just kick the fucking door down. That’d teach ‘em,” she grumbled, but she did not follow through with that idea.

She went to find something to pick the lock with and ended up downstairs in the living room where she found Kim, sleeping on the sofa. Okay, so it would seem Bonnie was holed up in the bedroom. Well, it was not like she wanted to sleep next to Bonnie anyway. Not that she was too fond of Kim right now either.

She was not even sure why she came back. She had already stated she did not want them to care about her, so why did she come back? They were just trying to change who she was and how she was. They did not love her for her, did not accept her, so why had she come back?

“I just need a place to bed down for the night,” Shego told herself, needing to explain her presence. It was not like she missed her girlfriends or the house or anything like that. _I’ll leave again when I get up_. She did not want to be around them anymore, she told herself.

Shego found a card to pick the lock on the bedroom door with ease. She went in silently and grabbed her pajamas and a pillow. She then closed the door and went back downstairs. She went to the den and made her camp there. She put a cover on the floor and covered herself with a sheet. She went to sleep there.

-8-8-8-8-

As he sipped his cocoa-moo, he could not believe Shego was still alive. He thought he had gotten rid of her. Well, maybe she had learned her lesson. He could find out and see what he should do about her. First off, he had to find out where she was and what she was up to. Then he could decide if she was worth his time or if he needed to get rid of her again.

Now, his henchmen had spotted her in the Middleton area. He thought that was pretty stupid of her. Why would she just be where their arch foe lived? It did not make any sense, but he would find out and then he might even approach her with a deal. And if she knew what was good for her, she would take it.

-8-8-8-8-

The morning in the house was tense. The ladies all had to make breakfast for themselves. Kim ended up eating the sandwich she made last night while her girlfriends looked at her with disgust in their faces. They could not understand how she was eating a bologna, cheese, lettuce, and tomato sandwich at eight in the morning, but they kind of expected something like that from her. Her ability to be able to eat almost anything at any time had to come from being a globe-trotting hero. Bonnie and Shego had more conventional breakfast foods for the morning.

The ladies then all left the house, only one of them had a destination in mind. Kim and Shego did not know where they were going, but they did not want to be in the house together. Shego was still huffy about them trying to change her and Kim just did not want to put up with Shego, or what she considered crazy behavior.

While the women were gone, a few people went into the house to check things out. They were not too sure what they were checking out. They knew they had to find evidence that Shego was living there or something like that. They had to find evidence Shego was doing something there anyway. The boss was vague about things.

They did go through much of the house, trying their best to not touch anything, and they found evidence that not only did Shego seem to live in the house, as a few photos in the place suggested, but also that Kim Possible and an unidentified female lived in the house, too. They were confused about the things that they were seeing. Was Shego living with Kim Possible? That did not make any sense to them, but that was what the house seemed to say.

“Oh, look at these,” one of the men said as he went through the ladies’ dresser drawers. He held up a pair of bikini cut violet panties.

Another man huffed and shoved him. “Will you stop fooling around? He’s probably got us wired and sees you goofing off.” It did not help matters that someone in the house might have noticed those things had been moved and then they would have to worry about Kim Possible or Shego or both of them coming after them. No matter what, he could not see things ending well.

The other man nodded and quickly put the underwear away. They continued going through the house and they were quite right about being wired. They wore cameras so their boss could see what they were seeing, maybe being able to piece things together a bit better than they could since he knew Shego much better than they did. He wanted to know what was going on with Shego and how she had the nerve to be alive after he had taken the time to try to kill her.

He took note of the few pictures around the home. There were some of Shego, Kim Possible, and a third woman. In a few pictures they were all together, embracing or at the least being close to each other. He started to wonder if that third woman would be able to get him both Shego and Kim Possible. That way he would not have to worry about the redheaded busybody ruining his plans. If necessary, he could get rid of Shego and Kim at the same time and not have to worry about either of them ever again.

-8-8-8-8-

Bonnie sighed while staring down at her desk. Her anger at her girlfriends began to wane considering the cooling period she had while at work. She wanted to be angry with the bruises on Shego’s face, but all she could think about was how happy Shego had appeared from being in a fight. She could only wonder what Kim had gotten up to while they had been apart if Shego was fighting and running from the cops.

“If Shego’s willing to do that just for the thrill… and the spite, what is Kim doing for thrills? What did Kim do to bring a smile to her face yesterday?” Bonnie doubted she would be able to guess, but this helped her realize something.

She had taken a lot from her girlfriends. Yes, she worried about them, but she cared about them too and it was fairly clear they were not happy with the way life was going. She did not want the people that were most precious to her to be miserable.

 _It’s not fair to them to act like this and to do this to them_. She was happy and satisfied with life, a life Kim helped give her and Shego seemed to complete. _They deserve some happiness, too_. But, she did not want them to get hurt by doing all of the crazy things that they did when left to their own devices. She cared about them and she wanted them to be safe. _But, those are the things that make them happy, the things that put light in their eyes_.

“There has to be some way to make them feel better,” Bonnie muttered to herself, concentration on her work all but forgotten.

She wondered what she could do to make them happy. They needed something to do with their time, but she did not want it to be something too dangerous. And then a great idea hit her; well, it was a great idea in her opinion. She got up from her chair and rushed out of the office.

Bonnie walked a few blocks and stared at a space for sale. She inspected it from the outside and thought that it would be perfect. She got on her cell phone to set up a meeting with the person selling it. She wanted to see the inside of it and she set up for that.

“This should give them something to do with themselves and it’s constructive,” Bonnie muttered with some pride in her voice.

She returned to office feeling better about herself. She figured she might be able to help her lovers now, but that did not mean that she still was not angry with them. They were acting like children in her opinion. They should just talk to her if they were so miserable instead of yelling at her and making it seem like they did not want her to care, especially Shego.

“God, I wish I didn’t care. This would be so much easier!” she grumbled as she flopped down in her chair.

If she did not care, it would save her a lot of heartache and pain, but she supposed things could be worse. She could always be alone or she could be stuck pretending to be something she was not, like back in high school. So, she would pay the price of being with Kim and Shego. With luck, they would all come out of the argument unscathed and Shego would apologize for being an asshole.

“And we can keep on loving each other.” She smiled. Yeah, she loved them, no matter how stupid they were.

-8-8-8-8-

The night at home was just as tense as the morning there for the ladies. They just did not want to talk to each other it would seem. They figured if they started talking, someone would say something that another did not want to hear and the annoying argument would start all over again. So, instead if arguing again, they did not talk at all, which seemed to be fine by them.

They all went to do their own things. Shego watched television. Bonnie had casework to keep her busy and Kim went to rearrange her portfolio. They all camped out in different rooms, making sure no accidental conversations could begin. Shego was in the living room while Bonnie was in the bedroom. Kim took the den.

They were all on their own for dinner and they all left the house for that. Bonnie took her car to get Chinese food. Kim walked a short distance to a fast food restaurant and got a burger and some fries. Shego went for pizza.

While they were out, they all silently noted it was not fun not talking to each other and eating their meals separately. It was actually rather lonely. They were already growing to miss each other and it had been little over a day since the feud began.

Still, when they got back in the house, they went right back to doing what they had done before. It was not until bedtime did they stop to try to talk, mostly because Kim and Shego were looking to get back in the bed rather than sleep on the sofa or on the floor. The talk did not go as well as it could have.

“Look, you can’t lock us out of the bedroom. It’s not like it’s your bedroom,” Shego argued, speaking to Bonnie. They all stood in the doorway of the bedroom.

“It’s not like it’s your bedroom either,” Bonnie huffed, glaring at the ex-thief.

“Don’t start this,” Kim sighed, shaking her head.

“Don’t act like you’re all for sleeping on the floor tonight,” Shego said to the redhead, pointing at her. 

“I’m not,” Kim said.

“There you go again, taking her side,” Bonnie commented, shoving her hands in Kim’s direction.

“I’m not taking sides!” the olive-eyed female hollered in frustration. She was ready to tear her hair out. _What conversation do these two hear?!_

“It doesn’t matter. I don’t want to sleep next to either of you,” Bonnie lied. Last night had been a horrible experience. The bed was huge and she was not used to being the only one in it. Even before Shego showed up, Bonnie would not sleep in the bed until Kim came home from some crazy mission and she would hold onto Kim like a kid with a security blanket.

Shego shrugged. “So the fuck what? It’s not just your bedroom.”

“It’s not your bedroom at all!” Bonnie pointed out.

Shego blinked and literally stepped back. Kim’s mouth dropped open. Was that how Bonnie always thought? That it was not Shego’s bedroom? That Shego was just some intruder in their bedroom. Kim was now waiting for the “fuck yous” to fly and she would have to sleep on the couch again. But, that was not what happened.

“I see. I see,” Shego muttered while making a tight face, doing her best to keep control. But, she could not stop her bottom lip from trembling. She was so hurt by Bonnie’s words and the thoughts they inspired that she could not even think of a proper retort. She turned around and headed right out the door.

“Shego!” Kim called, reaching out for her, but only catching air.

“Oh, yeah, go after her. Take her side as usual. Be with the one you wanted in the first place!” Bonnie huffed and then she went into the bedroom. She slammed the door in Kim’s face. It would seem that she was sleeping alone again.

Kim sighed and threw her hands up in defeat. “I’m surrounded by crazy people.”

She guessed she would after Shego with the way everything was going. It was not like she would get through Bonnie by talking through the door and Shego was genuinely hurt. She could see the shattered look in those emerald eyes.

She marched out of the house and looked up the street to see if she could spot the pale woman. But, Shego was gone. _Damn her ninja skills_ , Kim thought. She decided to follow her instincts and went off in the direction she would have gone in if she were Shego. _I’ll find her eventually, but Bonnie has to fix this one_. After that, she would then have to talk to Bonnie to make sure Bonnie understood she had not wanted to be with Shego “in the first place.”

“They’re going to make me a crazy person, too,” Kim realized. It was the only way she would survive with Shego and Bonnie as girlfriends.

-8-8-8-8-

Shego was not sure where she was going, but she had the distinct feeling she was being followed. She did not think about it beyond that, though. She often noticed she was being followed and just chalked it up to Global Justice being the assholes they always were. They thought if they followed her then she would eventually lead them to Drakken.

She wished they would listen to her. Drakken was dead. She saw him blow up. She did not see why they would think she was lying. After all, what would she have to gain by lying about Drakken being alive when it was clear that she was not working for or with him? She was just living her life with her girls and she wished Global Justice would just leave her the hell alone. She had enough trouble in life, especially with her girls at the moment.

She sighed as her girls came to mind. She wanted to turn around and go home, but she remembered Bonnie’s words. It was not her bedroom, so it probably was not her home either. Kim had sort of implied the same thing yesterday, she remembered, by asking her why she was even there. She sucked her teeth as she wondered where she should go. There was always a cheap motel or she could go to her mother’s house.

There was a high chance that her mother was not at the house. Her mother was a woman of the world and had only been staying at the house when she expected a visit from Shego or if she felt like she needed to check on Shego. _My mother, the worrywart_. She was like Bonnie that regard. Her mother had gone back to traveling after she decided Shego was in good hands with Kim and Bonnie, so she more than likely would not be home, which was fine by Shego.

The pale woman would not want to go to her mother’s house and then have to explain herself. She only wanted to go to sleep in a bed and not have to deal with Bonnie big mouth or be subjected to Kim taking Bonnie’s side. She did not want to think about how she was the outsider in their relationship.

“Wow, Shego, I know you really well,” Kim commented as she seemed to come out of nowhere. She was in front of Shego, which the pale woman could not believe.

“Princess, how the hell did you do that?” Shego asked as she jumped back a bit. The redhead had taken her by surprise.

“It was a guess,” Kim admitted with a shrug. “Come on, love. Come back home.”

“It’s not my home,” Shego objected with a bitter scowl.

“It is. Come on, one argument and you’re going to leave? Don’t do this. She’s mad, you’re mad, I’d like the chance to be mad, but one of us has to be rational. So, just take a deep breath and come back to the house,” Kim implored, taking a step closer to Shego.

The former villainess frowned and shook her head. “I’m not going back to somewhere I’m not wanted.”

Again, Kim had to resist the urge to tear her hair out. “Shego, she didn’t mean it. She was just mad, like you are. Are you seriously going to throw us away from one fight? Do we mean that little to you?” She could not believe the woman who was loyal to an idiot like Drakken for years would walk away from them because of one fight that went too far and they all knew it went too far.

“I mean that little to you two and you know it,” Shego argued.

Kim shook her head. “That’s not true. Look, it was one fight. We’re going to fight every now and then. That’s just relationships. Hell, that’s just life. I know you know this. So, chill out and come back home. We can sort this whole mess out.”

Shego seemed to think on it for a while, lolling her head from side to side for a few seconds. “I get the couch tonight.”

Kim sighed. “Fine. You can have the couch. I can’t believe I’m sleeping on the floor tonight,” she muttered. But, relationships were about compromise, she reminded her. _Why do I get the feeling I’ll be doing all of the compromising around here now?_

The two returned to the house and they set up camp in the den and the living room. Kim took the den that night and Shego had the living room. They had trouble sleeping because they disliked sleeping alone. Bonnie experienced the same problem.

The morning was just like the last, except everyone was cranky now because of lack of sleep. They gave each other mixed looks of longing and annoyances. It was like they were not sure if they wanted to hug or hit each other. Shego and Kim probably would have gone for the latter, as it would eventually get them to the former once they were exhausted, but they knew Bonnie would not approve of a serious, drag out fight between them. They just tried to stay out of each other’s way to avoid making things worse.

They all left the house; once again, only one of them had a destination. Bonnie went to work while Shego and Kim went to mind their own business, which was exactly how they would have put it if they were talking to each other.

-8-8-8-8-

Bonnie met up with the person selling the space near her job. She went through prices and what the property could be used for. She had to work out how payments would go and everything, but the man was pretty nice and seemed a bit flattered by her, which she used to her advantage. She felt good about herself, even though she was rather pissed at her girlfriends at the moment.

Still, they were her ladies and she loved them both (although sometimes she wondered why), so she was happy she invested in something that would hopefully make her lovers get outside more often and help them. She did find it ironic that their argument had been the thing that got Kim and Shego out of the house. She hoped they were doing something productive, even though from yesterday’s evidence it seemed that Shego was just as bitchy as always. _Really, what am I going to do with them?_

Bonnie returned to work after starting the works of buying the property. She made it around the corner and then ran into someone. She thought the fellow looked rather familiar and it was hard to forget a guy that was blue.

“You’re Drakken,” Bonnie realized as she stared at the mad scientist with wide eyes. She knew about him because she kept up with Kim villains and things from the time that she started dating Kim. Okay, maybe from before then. Maybe it was from about the time she noticed she had a crush on Kim. Either way, she knew this was not good.

“And you are someone to Kim Possible and Shego, so if you’ll come with me,” Drakken said in a rather civil tone.

“But, you’re dead. Shego saw you die,” Bonnie said, shaking her head. Had Shego actually lied? It did not seem like she was lying and it did not seem like she had been in contact with Drakken if she had been lying. _What the hell is going on?_

Drakken smiled. “Indeed. Now, I’m going to need you to come with me as quickly as possible. We can do this the hard way or the easy way. Just to let you know, the hard way does involve this.” He pulled out a rather impressive looking gun from under his jacket.

Bonnie gasped because of the weapon, but quickly regained her composure. She was not going to let a nerd that turned into a villain because people laughed at him in college push her around; she knew that thanks to Kim. She was not afraid of him.

“Look, I don’t know what the hell your deal is, but just leave me the hell alone before I call Kim on you,” she replied.

“I see we’re going to have to do this the hard way,” he commented with a slight shrug.

Drakken pulled the trigger on the gun and Bonnie was pretty sure that she was about to be shot. She put her arms up in her defense, but no shot came. Instead, a gas came out and Bonnie passed out moments after inhaling it. Drakken just let her hit the ground.

“This should get Shego and Kim to come to me and I’ll destroy them both if necessary,” Drakken said. He figured he would do away with Kim, but he would see what to do with Shego. She might rejoin his organization, after all, and he could always use a competent sidekick.

-8-8-8-8-

Shego wandered the park for lack of a better thing to do. She had considered going home and just vegging out on some television, but there was a chance Kim might be there. She could not figure out why she was avoiding Kim now, but she did know she was supposed to be upset with both of her girlfriends. She remembered Kim seemed to side with Bonnie, but then Kim had come for her last night, so now everything was confusing. She figured she would just stay mad until it seemed too burdensome or until she got some apologies, especially about that not being her bedroom comment.

Suddenly, Shego was surrounded. She moved just in time to avoid being tackled and started swinging at the group attacking her. After striking three men, she noticed the uniforms and figured out that Global Justice was trying to make her acquaintance again. She could only wonder what the bastards wanted with her now. _I didn’t do anything. Why the hell do they keep bugging me?_

She supposed she should go quietly to avoid providing them with an excuse to treat her like a beast again. But, it was hard to surrender peacefully when the morons kept coming at her. She did not ignite her hands, but she used all of her skills to make sure they did not touch her.

People in the park stopped to look at the fight. Shego knew they had to be wondering what the hell was going on. Hell, they might have assumed they were filming a show or movie considering the uniforms and her skin tone. The agents seemed to notice all of the attention they received, which was when the man in charge decided to show himself. He cleared his throat and ordered his men to back off with a simple wave of his hand. Shego did not attack as they backed off, which surprised the agents.

“Shego, I’m Agent Will Du and I’m here to take you in,” the man in charge informed the former villainess.

“You let me make a phone call and I’ll be right with you,” Shego answered.

“Make it quick.” Will motioned to her to go ahead.

Shego complied and made her phone call very brief. She merely informed the person she called that she was being arrested and would be at Global Justice headquarters. She ended the call and left with Will.

Shego was taken to a tiny interrogation room and left alone for only a few seconds. Will shut the door and then it seemed like as soon as the door clicked, Doctor Director walked in. The brown-haired woman sat opposite Shego.

“I knew you were nothing but a filthy liar,” the leader of GJ stated, glaring at the ex-thief.

“Whoa, nice to see you, too,” Shego said sarcastically, holding up her hands.

“Tell me what Drakken’s up to,” Doctor Director commanded, tapping the table between them hard with her middle finger.

“Are you really this fucking stupid? Drakken is dead!” Shego stated in an aggravated tone. Why were they not listening to her? The guy was as dead as they come.

“Then why did we have a sighting of him?”

“Was the person wearing glasses? Or in need of mediation? Or drunk off their fucking ass? Drakken is fucking dead. I saw the bastard blow up myself. How many times do I have to tell you that?” Shego demanded with a growl.

“Don’t play with me!” Doctor Director said and she pounded the table with her fist.

Shego did the same, breaking the corner of the table. “Damn it, the man is dead! If you’re going to arrest me for something, charge me and shut the fuck up!”

Doctor Director frowned and she was about to say something to Shego, but the door to the interrogation room opened. At first, the one-eyed woman thought it was Shego’s lawyer, that evil Rockwaller woman. Instead, Kim entered the room.

“What happened?” Kim inquired.

“Why didn’t you bring the demon child? I got arrested for crying out loud,” Shego pointed out. She obviously needed a lawyer, but there was no way in hell she would call Bonnie. She was angrier with her than with Kim, so she figured if she called Kim and pointed out that she got arrested, then Kim would bring Bonnie. It seemed logical to her, but obviously not to Kim. _Pumpkin has lost her mind thanks to this horrible sedentary lifestyle_.

“Bonnie’s not answering her phone. What the hell did you get arrested for?” the redhead asked with a furrowed brow.

“The same bullshit as before. They swear to God that Drakken is alive and that I’m hiding him. The man is fucking dead,” Shego answered.

“Doctor Director,” Kim said, turning to the aforementioned woman.

“Drakken was sighted on the street kidnapping a woman. Now, Shego tells us he’s dead while police tell us otherwise. I’m sorry, but I have to believe the police over a known liar and thief,” Doctor Director replied.

Shego snarled. “You’re not listening to me! I saw him die with my own two eyes! He’s dead! If you don’t believe me, hook me up to one of those lie detector things or whatever the hell else you got and you’ll see. I will tell that shit to my own mother. The man is dead.”

The argument was interrupted as Kim’s Kimmunicator went off. She still carried it, even though she did not go on missions anymore. It was just that it had all of her business related things on it, not that she even did much business anymore. Life was so boring now.

“What’s the sitch?” Kim answered as usual.

“Kimmie, this blue guy wants to talk to you,” Bonnie’s voice came through the device.

“Blue guy?” Kim echoed and then looked at Shego in dread. Shego stared at her with wide eyes. “Put him on, baby.”

“Okay. Here,” Bonnie said and she passed the phone.

“Kim Possible, I have Bonnie Rockwaller. If you want her back, you and Shego are to do exactly as I say,” a very familiar voice declared. Shego craned an eyebrow as she heard the voice.

“Drakken?” Kim said in a bewildered tone. Her eyes stayed fixed on Shego and she mouthed, “What the hell?”

“What the fuck are you doing alive?” Shego demanded as she shot up to her feet and grabbed Kim’s arm to talk into the Kimmunicator.

“Shego, you’re with Kim Possible?” Drakken asked in a puzzled tone.

“Yeah, and if you hurt Bonnie, you’re going to catch two different kinds of ass whippings before I just turn you to ashes!” Shego replied in a heated tone. _I beat his ass if he lays one crazy finger on the demon child!_

“You’ll do nothing like that. Now, listen carefully to what I want you and Kim to do or Miss Rockwaller is going to have an unpleasant stay,” Drakken said somewhat gleefully. Obviously, he enjoyed having the upper hand right now.

Kim and Shego scowled. If that crazy bastard hurt their girlfriend, he would regret it for the rest of his life, however long Shego was going to allow that to be. Honestly, Kim might not let him live that long if he did anything serious to Bonnie.

Shego could not believe Drakken was even still alive. She saw him get blown up. What the hell was going on?

The duo listened as Drakken give them instructions. Doctor Director stuck around to listen, too, but did not make it known that she was in the room. When Drakken was done, the communication was disconnected. Kim turned to look at Doctor Director.

“Team up?” the redhead offered the leader of Global Justice with a smile.

“I have to trust Shego?” Doctor Director asked.

“Trust me, she wants Bonnie back just as much as I do and she wants Drakken just as much as you do,” Kim replied.

“Damn right. How dare that bastard pretend to be dead,” Shego declared.

“You mean like you did?” the redhead teased.

“When I did it, it was different. Look, can we just get a plan going so we can rescue Bonnie?” Shego huffed, folding her arms across her chest.

“Doctor Director?” Kim asked.

“What do you have in mind?” the one-eyed woman inquired. Well, it would seem that they were working together.

-8-8-8-8-

Kim and Shego followed Drakken’s instructions to the letter; well, mostly to the letter. He wanted them to show up at his lair with no gadgets, which they did. They noted in the time he had been “dead” his taste in lairs had not changed in the slightest. They were currently in a dormant volcano; or at least, they hoped it was dormant. With his track record, the thing might actually erupt in ten minutes, they considered.

He ordered them into special chairs, which had automatic bonds on them. When they sat down, the manacles in the chair locked around their wrists and across their chests. And with that, he assumed they were secure and nothing stood in his way to unleash his ultimate plan, which they both knew he was going to rant about.

“Hold on a second, chief,” Shego said as soon as Drakken got his mouth ready to ramble. She did not care about his current plan, especially because if the giant cylindrical machine in the center of the room was any indicator of his scheme, she could guess how it was going to go.

“What?” Drakken asked with a bit of a pout. The expression might have gotten to Shego if only she was not so freaking pissed off at the guy.

“What the fuck are you still doing alive?” Shego demanded. How dare this bastard actually have the nerve to be alive and plotting world domination without her! Not that she wanted to be in on the plot, especially since his crazy ass was definitely going down. No one kidnapped her demon child and got off scot-free.

“I could ask you the same question,” he countered with an arched eyebrow.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, that explosion was designed to kill you, after all,” he informed her as if everyone knew that.

“WHAT!” Shego screamed in pure fury and flared up her hands all the way up to her shoulders. She pulled at her bonds, trying to get at Drakken. How dare he casually admit that the fucking explosion that had almost killed her was actually intended to murder her!

“Drakken, why would you try to kill Shego?” Kim inquired, her forehead wrinkled in confusion. It truly did not make any sense. Why would Drakken try to kill his most competent and talented henchwoman?

“Because she was going to leave me to work for Dementor!” Drakken roared. “There was no way I was going to let that happen!”

“A weird sort of ‘if he can’t have you no one can’?” Kim guessed, speaking to Shego.

“I don’t care! Drakken, when I get out of this chair, I’m going to wring your scrawny neck!” the pale woman proclaimed, snarling at him.

“I don’t think you want to that. I do have Miss Rockwaller, after all,” Drakken pointed out.

Shego growled in anger; the bastard had a good point! She calmed herself down somewhat. They had a plan, after all. She would stick to the plan. She put her glow out and took a deep breath to calm herself down.

“Why is Miss Rockwaller so important to you anyway?” Drakken asked curiously.

“None of your fucking business. Now, why the fuck would you try to kill me because I was going to work to Dementor, which I wasn’t going to do anyway,” Shego stated. _Where the hell did he get such a stupid idea?_

“I saw the ad circled in one of your magazines. You circled the ad by Dementor looking for new employees,” the cerulean scientist cited as proof that Shego planned to leave him.

“I didn’t circle it you, boob! I wouldn’t work for Dementor. He doesn’t pay enough,” Shego commented, turning her nose up at him.

“Then who circled it?” he inquired, as if he had her with logic.

“Hell if I know. The magazine probably wasn’t even mine. I wasn’t the only person on the payroll that could read and brought magazines. I know it might seem like a foreign concept to you, but people do read things,” she snapped.

“Don’t try to lie now! I know you were going to go work for Dementor and so I decided that to do something about it.”

“Blow me up?!” Shego hollered in disbelief. She had beaten Kim to shouting that. His first instinct was to kill Shego if she was going to leave him? Oh, he certainly was mad.

“Yes! I wouldn’t let that hack Dementor have you! So, I set that machine to self-destruct at a certain time. I called you into the main room at the right time and you were supposed to die when the machine terminated itself,” he explained.

“But, I saw you in there,” the pale woman pointed out.

“You saw a syntho-drone of me in there. I have them almost perfected to be almost human,” he said.

“I should’ve known. It was too good a thing for an idiot like you to be dead,” Shego deadpanned.

“Well, Shego, since you didn’t die, I’ll let you come back to my team if you swear allegiance to me and then you kill Kim Possible,” Drakken said with a proud smirk, like he was actually offering something worthwhile.

Shego glanced at Kim. “You poor deluded bastard. Yeah, that’s a real tempting offer,” the former sidekick said sarcastically.

“But, we’ve got a better one for you,” Kim said with a smile of her own.

“Yeah, you give up now and we don’t have to beat you bloody for kidnapping and using Bonnie,” Shego proposed.

“And why would I give up?” Drakken inquired. “I’m the one holding all the cards, Shego. Everything’s finally going my way, no thanks to you. You were probably holding me back, actually. So, why would I give up?”

“Because GJ is going to storm this place in about ten seconds and Shego’s bonds are loose, anyway,” Kim answered in a very controlled tone.

“Shego’s bonds are loose?” he echoed in disbelief, squinting as if he did not understand.

“Yeah, you didn’t think that whole power up thing was just for show did you?” Shego asked curiously with a chuckle.

Suddenly, swarms of people in cobalt blue uniforms stormed into the main chamber. Drakken looked confused as his henchmen scattered, either for weapons or to try to escape the liar. Shego ripped herself from her chair and went at Drakken like striking cobra. She grabbed him by the collar and she was about to tear into him, but someone fell into her and she lost her grip on him. Drakken ran for it while Shego turned to see who hit her. It was a henchman.

While Shego went to kick the henchman’s ass for making her lose on Drakken, Will Du came to release Kim. He worked quickly and got her out in no time. She climbed to her feet.

“Is Bonnie safe?” Kim asked Will. The plan had been for Kim and Shego to stall Drakken while GJ rescued Bonnie and then stormed the place while Drakken was distracted. It worked.

“Yes, we’ve got her in a secure vehicle waiting for you,” Will answered.

“Good,” Kim said. “Shego!” she called.

“What?” Shego answered. She was now a few yards from Kim.

“Drakken’s getting away. I want you to throw me when I get to you!”

“Throw her?” Shego echoed, but she did not have too much time to contemplate what her lover meant.

Kim charged toward Shego and the pale woman seemed to understand at just the right time. She grabbed Kim’s wrists, spun once, and flung Kim in the direction of Drakken. The speed made Drakken’s head start seem like nothing. Kim just hoped no one stepped in her path and she was lucky enough for that to not happen. She positioned herself and hit Drakken in the back with her shoulder.

Drakken yelped as he hit the deck hard. Kim fell to the ground and slid a few feet away from Drakken. The mad scientist groaned and tried to pick himself up. He noticed Kim climbing to her feet, so he quickly pulled a weapon to keep her away from him. He aimed what appeared to be a gun at her.

“Stay right there!” he ordered the redhead.

“Drakken, you’re not going to shoot me and you’re not getting out of here,” Kim informed him.

“I am right now and I’m going to finish you off, too,” he declared as he climbed to his feet, making sure to keep the gun trained on her.

“Drakken, you don’t want to do that,” Kim warned him.

“Why not?” he asked.

“Because it pisses me off!” Shego hollered as she threw a plasma blast at him and hit him in the back while running over to the scene.

Drakken hissed in pain and turned around, just what the green-skinned female wanted him to do. She caught her former employer with the hardest punch she had to offer to teach him not to try to kill her or her Princess or touch her demon child. Before Drakken hit the ground, Kim threw in her two cents to make sure he did not get back up. Kim kicked him in the midsection, which caused him to cough in agony. He fell forward on his face into unconsciousness.

“Fucking bastard,” Shego said and she spit on him. She could not believe the nerve of that blue bastard.

The two lovers looked around at what was going on with GJ and Drakken’s henchmen. It was like a war zone in the room. They looked at each other as if asking if they should join in. They smirked and were about to run off, but Drakken groaned. He actually regained consciousness quickly and then he pulled out a switch.

“What’s that in his hand?” Kim asked curiously.

“Shit,” Shego said when she noticed that Drakken held something.

“Self destruct button,” Drakken informed them and he hit the button. “Shego, you should like this one. The explosion should be twice the size of the one you got into.”

“You fucking bastard!” Shego hollered as she leaned down and grabbed him. “Tell us how to shut it down!” she commanded. There was no way in hell she was dying with GJ agents and her lover, especially with their other lover waiting for them.

“You have to go to the control panel to do it,” he told them as his main computer began the countdown, which was only ten seconds.

“And you want us to leave you and go to the controls? It won’t happen. If I have to die in this hellhole, I’m definitely taking your stupid ass with me,” Shego snarled.

Kim dashed off over to the main computer. Will met her there and they started working as quickly as possible hoping to get the thing to stop the self-destruct mode. With each passing number, they screamed “shit!” in their minds.

“Shego, let me go! We can both get out of here if you do,” Drakken said in a panic.

“To hell with that. I’m not leaving Kim and you’re not leaving my sight, so if we go, you go,” Shego told him.

Drakken had not counted on that. He thought Shego would agree to leave with him. He started sweating bullets as the countdown got lower and lower. They were going to die.

-8-8-8-8-

Doctor Director stood outside of the lair. She caught any of the henchmen that ran out of the place when the fighting started. She was also there when Will came out with Bonnie and she had ushered the lawyer into the safety of a van a few yards away from everything. She would have preferred sending Bonnie away from the scene altogether, but Shego and Kim wanted Bonnie close by. Bonnie seemed to know her lovers were around and insisted she stay until they returned. And then suddenly there was an explosion.

Bonnie heard the noise and jumped. She hoped it did not come from the lair she just escaped. She had a feeling her lovers were in there and she did not want them to get hurt.

Doctor Director craned an eyebrow as she watched smoke rise from the side of volcano. She got on her comm. unit and tried to get into contact with Agent Du. When she did not get an answer, she silently admitted that she was a little worried.

“Agent Du here,” Will answered the communication with a cough.

Doctor Director smiled to herself. “Status report, Agent Du,” she ordered.

Will looked around. “Um… well, it’s pretty much what usually happens with Drakken.”

Doctor Director nodded. It would seem Drakken had not gotten much smarter since he had gone missing. She had been worried he would do something like the Lil Diablo incident again, but he did not get the chance. He probably would have gotten the chance if he had not been so eager to get Kim and Shego.

“At least this is one problem down,” Doctor Director figured.

-8-8-8-8-

“Princess, you okay?” Shego called as she coughed. It would seem Drakken miscalculated, which did not surprise Shego. That explosion seemed to be half the explosion that she experienced before instead of twice the size of it. _This guy and the little things, like decimal points_.

“Um… I think depends,” Kim replied. She had landed on her back and Will had landed on top of her.

Will blushed. “Forgive me, Miss Possible!” he apologized in a panicked tone as he crawled off of her.

“I see you over there cheating!” Shego teased her girlfriend.

“Shut up!” Kim replied with a laugh.

Shego started to get up. She still had Drakken, who was knocked out by some falling debris. _Hopefully, the damn thing knocked some sense into him… or he has a concussion that has turned him into a gibbering idiot_. Either one worked for her.

Kim followed Shego’s lead and stood up, as did Will. They all looked around to see what they were working with. Everything was totaled and almost everyone was unconscious. Will got on his comm. unit.

“This is Special Agent Will Du. I need medical units,” he reported and then he took in the scene again. “And, I think we up the training for GJ agents as they dared to be knocked out from what this little explosion.”

Shego actually backed him up on that. “Yeah, Director. You need to get serious with these guys. This was nothing. Hell, I’m not even deaf from that.”

“Really?” Kim shook her head, which just got a laugh out of Shego.

“Where’d you get these jokers anyway, a yard sale?” Shego remarked, speaking to Doctor Director through Will’s comm. unit.

-8-8-8-8-

Kim, Shego, and Bonnie all embraced in the privacy of the van that Bonnie had been taken to. They then exchanged a kiss, obviously forgetting all of the anger they had toward each other. They sighed in relief that everything turned out fine while Global Justice took Drakken into custody.

“We were so worried about you,” Kim said to Bonnie. She found she could not keep her hands to herself and ran her fingers through Bonnie’s hair.

“Yeah,” Shego agreed, her hand on Bonnie’s elbow. Touching Bonnie was reassuring. They had rescued her, she was alive, and everything would be fine.

“I wasn’t worried. I knew you’d both save me,” Bonnie said to the two of them and that was the truth. She had not been worried or scared while she was a captive. She knew in her heart that they would rescue her and that everything would be all right.

“Really?” Shego asked, surprised Bonnie had so much faith in her.

Bonnie smiled and somehow the twinkle in her eyes made her words seem all the more concrete. “Of course.”

Well, Kim and Shego could not argue that. There was no way they would just let Drakken take their beloved, especially to use her against them. What the hell was wrong with him to even think that? Although, he did not seem to know Bonnie was someone very important to them. He just seemed to think she was a mutual friend or roommate or something like that.

The ladies were not given much of a chance to enjoy each other’s presence that afternoon. They had to go through everything with GJ and make statements. They also had to press charges against Drakken when he was handed over to the proper authorities. They had no problem doing that, especially since the kidnapping and attempted murder thing would probably put him away forever and they would not have to worry about him, but when the day was over, they were exhausted. All they wanted to do was go home and collapse into bed, which was what they did.

They all crawled into bed after showers and fell asleep curled up together. They still did not recall they were upset with each other. In the morning though, they finally had their little talk. They remained in bed for it.

“Look, you two, I’m sorry if it seems like I ask a lot of you or like I’m trying to change you or something like that. I just worry so much about you. I get scared I might lose one or both of you and I don’t want that to happen,” Bonnie explained. If this thing with Drakken had not taught her anything, it showed her that her girlfriends were made for action, but she still wanted them to be safe.

“We know,” Kim said and Shego nodded.

“But, I still want you two to be happy,” Bonnie added, reaching over to touch Shego. She rubbed her leg against Kim’s. It was nice that they did not push her away.

“You mean to tell me there’s like a common ground with this?” Shego inquired with an arched eyebrow. She reached up and ran her finger along Bonnie’s hand.

“Well, I don’t really know. I know you two need to do something that you like and that has meaning to it. I think I know something that you might like, but I want it to be a surprise,” Bonnie replied.

“A surprise?” Kim and Shego echoed. They both sat up a little to look Bonnie directly in the face. Shego ended up putting her chin on Kim’s shoulder for a better view.

“Yeah, so after breakfast, I’ll show you what it is,” Bonnie said.

Kim and Shego nodded. Bonnie then took a deep breath and gnawed her bottom lip. She clearly was not done and her lovers waited.

“I’m sorry for kicking you two out of the room. If it means anything, it was hard to sleep without you,” the tanned woman apologized with a slight sheepish expression on her face.

“Good for you,” Shego teased, but she gave Bonnie’s hand a little squeeze.

“Shego,” Kim said in a scolding tone and Shego sighed, knowing what the redhead expected.

“Fine, I’m sorry I said I don’t want you two to care. I do want you to care. I mean, I care and I want that returned,” the pale woman apologized.

“Well, it is returned. I’m also sorry for saying this isn’t your room. It is your room as much as it’s mines or Kimmie’s. This is your home,” Bonnie said.

“Thanks. I needed that,” Shego admitted. She needed it when Kim said it and now it was complete with Bonnie saying it. And then the two argumentative women turned to Kim.

“Why aren’t you apologizing?” Bonnie asked the redhead curiously.

“Because I didn’t do anything,” Kim pointed out.

Bonnie and Shego both opened their mouths to talk and simultaneously accused Kim of the same crime. “You sided with her,” they declared while pointing at each other.

“Now, how the hell did I side with both of you?” Kim inquired with a craned eyebrow.

They were speechless. It was impossible for her to have sided with both of them. So, for the first time, they stopped and thought about Kim’s actions during this whole argument. Kim had actually not done anything. Well, maybe they owed her an apology too. They glanced at each other and silently agreed on the apology. They moved in and kissed Kim on the mouth.

“Sorry, baby,” Bonnie said.

“Yeah, sorry, Princess,” Shego said.

“I don’t know if I really buy that,” Kim said and they laughed.

“Don’t try your luck,” Shego said.

Kim scoffed and wrapped her arms around both of them. She went in for a kiss from each and she knew what she was starting. Before long they were exchanging kisses and tearing off pajamas. It was going to be a long morning.

-8-8-8-8-

Bonnie drove Kim and Shego to their surprise that afternoon. Kim noticed they were close to Bonnie’s office. She parked the car in front of an empty store space and exited the car. Kim and Shego followed Bonnie’s lead. They stood outside the store.

“I got this for you two. I thought maybe you could open a karate school or something,” Bonnie explained.

“We do kung-fu, not karate,” Shego corrected the lawyer just to be annoying.

“Some of my moves are karate,” Kim said.

“Not many, princess. Don’t try to act like she didn’t mess up,” Shego replied.

“Anyway, I thought you guys could do open a school. What do you think?” Bonnie asked, bouncing on her heels a bit with nervous energy. If she had screwed this up, she was not sure what she would do.

“Spanking!” Kim cheered.

“God, you still say that?” Shego asked.

“Obviously. Now, are you going to teach with me or not?” Kim countered.

“Well, it’s something to do. Maybe we could set up some tournaments or something. I don’t know,” Shego replied. She was not sure if that would be enough. They still might get bored. After all, Kim did have things to do on the outside, but she never felt like doing them because her life seemed to miss something without her missions.

“You don’t sound as enthused as I hoped,” Bonnie admitted.

“I think it’s a start, but I think you have to give Kim back her life, Bonnie. Just in someway other than this. I mean, if you saw her when we were making the plan to get Drakken, you’d know she needs those missions in her life,” Shego explained.

Bonnie and Kim were shocked, mostly because Shego was not speaking up for herself and her need to do extreme things, but for Kim to do something. Shego figured Kim needed someone to speak up for her because the redhead would just try to deny herself because she wanted Bonnie to be happy. Kim should not have to be miserable to supply happiness to a lover. The lover should understand. Besides, if Kim started taking missions again, Shego could always tag along for the excitement.

“I know,” Bonnie confessed with a sigh. “I just don’t want her to get hurt.” She took Kim’s hand into hers and squeezed. Kim smiled a little.

“That’s why you have to trust the crazy little firecracker,” Shego commented, ruffling Kim’s hair and earning a laugh. “You have to bend a little, isn’t that what you two always tell me?” she asked. If one of the others asked that question, she would have made a sex joke, but coming from her made the inquiry all the more serious.

“I guess you’re right,” Bonnie yielded.

“Spanking!” Kim cheered again, much louder that time.

“Damn it, stop saying that Princess,” Shego huffed. “Let’s go look inside the future school before I have to kick your ass in the street to shut you up.”

Kim only smiled as they did enter the space to see what they were working with. It was a good-sized area with two floors. They figured they could do something special with it.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Kim’s parents find out she’s seeing Shego and find out how Shego ended up in love with Kim, as well as how Kim and Bonnie ended up together.


	5. Ground Zero

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. I also don’t own Sesame Street.
> 
> The usual warning about typos stands; there are probably plenty of them.

5: Ground Zero 

Kim and Shego stood outside of their little kung-fu school. They were rather proud of it, even though it was only a couple of weeks old. Still, it worked out to be a very wonderful gift from their thoughtful girlfriend.

“If only you could be so thoughtful,” Kim teased Shego, bumping the older woman with her hip. She had been saying this since they opened the school.

“If only your brats could be normal,” Shego countered, referring to Kim’s students. Kim shot her a glare and she smirked, looking insufferable and smug, especially when she crossed her arms over her chest.

Shego had taken on the older and more skilled people that had come to join their school, leaving Kim with the children’s classes and the novice groups. It was actually a wise decision since Kim was the more patient one out of the two and she had a soft spot for children, but she would have liked to have some of the more advanced students, just to have some students to teach some of her own moves to. Instead, she was stuck teaching the basics more often than not.

Their school was a two-story building with a lot of room, which they had gotten creative with. Kim had taken the downstairs part of the building, which they guessed used to be a small retail store from the way that it was set up. She situated things, so that the classes that would be held there would be on display for anyone passing by to see because the space where it was positioned in front of the window. Kim held her youngster class in the area on Saturday mornings, so that if any kid passed by with their parents, they would be able to look inside and see what their peers were doing and hopefully want to join in.

“My ‘brats’ will probably help us get more students than anything you do,” Kim pretended to sneer.

Shego scoffed. “Please. Once people stop and look at what I’m doing, we’ll eventually have to actually turn people down.” 

Shego took command of the display area in the afternoons when she had her advance classes, so that if anyone wandered by, they could see how disciplined and skilled her students were. She thought it might get some more students in their fledgling school. They could certainly use more students.

None of their classes had more than five students in them at the moment. They had classes every morning and afternoon, except for Sundays. Sunday was the day that all three of them spent together just doing nothing around the house and enjoying the hell out of it.

The weekday morning classes, Kim took an area they created upstairs. It was more like a daycare than kung-fu class, but the few students she had were very serious about learning martial arts and she was very serious about teaching them. Shego was not sure if the kids fed off of Kim or if Kim fed off of them, but everything seemed intense around those little ones. They showed up with their little training gis and hung on every word that came out of Kim’s mouth, which she thought was too cute because they were all four-year-olds. They were just about the most adult four-year-olds that Kim had ever met, though.

Shego’s morning classes consisted of college students for the most part. It would seem they did not have morning classes and so, they came to learn and practice their kung-fu. They were good advertising actually because Shego’s mornings ended up being booked through out the week because her students ended up telling their friends about the class and they came to sign up. Classes were paid through monthly dues, so they just showed up whatever time they were free for lessons.

Their afternoons were similar. Kim had school kids of different ages, depending on what day it was. They switched who would use the display room on those days, using weird methods. Sometimes a game of “rock, paper, scissors” determined who got the display room, other times it would be who could call it first, they flipped coins for it sometimes, and there were dozens of others rather immature ways for them to pick who had the room.

A treat that delighted their students were the sparring matches that Kim and Shego often engaged in between classes. Any people that arrived early for a class usually got to see the two teachers going to work on each other. It always amazed the witnesses at how skilled their teachers were and many people, students and their friends/family that were just with them, often just gawked while the two lovers fought with each other like they truly disliked each other. No one knew that the teachers were lovers, but they were able to guess that the pair were old enemies from the way they fought.

Kim and Shego still sparred like always, despite the fact that they were lovers and if they bruised each other, it sent Bonnie into a tirade that neither of them really wanted to hear when she saw the marks. They still came up with interesting moves to use against each other and kept each other on their toes in every fight. Sometimes, they even shocked each other so much with a new move that they had to stop and discuss how the skill was created and other things surrounding the technique. They got a great joy out of it. It was really one of their true passions in life.

Kim was trying to get back into the swing of her other passion, namely being a hero. The break she had in between really did not seem like much to her, but it would seem word had gotten around that she was no longer doing adventures and people went to other sources for their needs. So, now she had to let people know she was back in the game and that was coming along agonizingly slow, mostly because Wade had a life outside of running her site now. He was a legal adult and he had a life of his own to lead, mostly trying to explore the world now to make up for everything he missed from his chosen imprisonment in his room when he was a child.

Sometimes, Wade actually joined Kim on her missions, commenting she could use a sidekick every now and then to make it like old times. She could only smile about that because the hero thing would never be like “old times.” Ron had moved out of her shadow, after all, and gone to make a life for himself. She was happy for him, of course.

She spoke to Ron quite often and sometimes, he would even meet up with her to do adventures. Even when Ron did show up though, it was not quite like old times. They were adults and they were different now, but they still loved each other as best friends and they still enjoyed saving the world together when they got the chance to. She made a mental note to get in touch with him, if only to find out how things were going.

On a couple of occasions, when she was very, very bored, Shego even accompanied her redheaded lover on an adventure. Of course, she had to be bitchy about everything while she was there, but she had enjoyed the two adventures and would merrily go on another if Kim got a call while she was standing there and the call sounded like something that would be dangerously fun.

The one annoying thing about Kim doing her missions was the fact that sometimes, she ran out of class to get on something that was classified as “important.” Shego would then be stuck babysitting some rather odd toddlers in her opinion. Hey, she felt that any four-year-old that was extra-serious about learning kung-fu was strange, even though it was a little impressive, too, and never mind she and her siblings had been like that. _Well, we were weird kids_. It was a good thing the little kids were so serious about martial arts, though because they were very content to watch Shego’s students work if they had to do so because their teacher suddenly fled the building for a mission.

“Let’s get to work,” Kim declared with a grin.

“Yeah,” Shego agreed with a smile of her own and they marched into the building, ready for another good day. 

-8-8-8-8-

“Love, you ready to go?” Kim inquired, descending the stairs from the top floor of their school. The last of her students had been picked up by their parents a few of minutes ago. She had gotten dressed in her street clothes in a changing area that they had upstairs.

“Yeah, I’m ready,” Shego replied as she stepped out of the changing room on the ground level. They had changing rooms on each level because they had such a big age difference in students, they figured most parents would be more comfortable with their children not sharing a dressing room with adults or people near adult ages, which was something that they both could understand.

“Wow, it’s a first,” the redhead teased as she hit the first floor.

“Don’t be smart. Some of my things are a little complicated to get into,” the pale woman defended herself for why she was usually late for the little get-together that they were about to have. She was dressed in casual clothing, just jeans and t-shirt.

“Really? Because pulling on jeans is really tough,” Kim continued.

“It’s not the outside that’s complicated,” Shego remarked with a smoldering look.

Kim rolled her eyes, not wanting to be drawn into an inappropriate conversation. It would let to an argument more than likely, given their location, and they did not have time for that. They had to get going, after all.

They were going to meet their other lover for lunch, as always. One thing that all three of them would agree on was that they liked the location of the school. It was close to the law firm where Bonnie worked and it allowed all three of them to gather for lunch on the daily basis. Some people might think that they all got sick of each other, seeing each other for so many hours during the day, but they truly enjoyed each other’s company most of the time. Like any other relationship, they sometimes had problems, but most of the time they just loved being around each other and that was why they looked forward to their lunch dates.

“You need to stick to complicated when we’re at the house and call it a day. There’s no reason for you to be complicated here,” Kim commented, shaking her head. Okay, clearly, she could not help herself.

Shego smirked like a sly cat. “You might not know it, but we’re going to get down and dirty in this place sometime soon, Princess. You can bet on that one.” She gave Kim a solid nod.

Olive green eyes went a little wide from that declaration, even though it was not something unusual for Shego to say. Kim quickly got over the shock and offered her green-skinned lover an arched eyebrow and half-smirk for all of her big talk. The skepticism did not seem to affect Shego in any way that mattered because she continued smirking, looking more and more mischievous by the second.

“I think that’s a bet I would lose,” Kim quipped with a bit of a chuckle.

“I doubt it. You can play shy all you want, but one day when you least suspect it, you’re going to be naked either up against the lockers in the back or on your back on these mats and it will be in a way you like for once,” the former thief replied.

“We’re not having sex in the school. It’s a damn school for crying out loud,” the hero pointed out.

“It’s _our_ damn school,” Shego stated, as if that justified her plan.

“What’s your point? It’s still a school and since it’s our school, we should treat it with the utmost respect and not even think about having sex in here, especially on the mats. Kids tumble on these mats,” Kim said while motioning to the mat beneath her feet. It was green in color because the ex-villainess had picked it and the other mats on the first floor out. The mats upstairs were red because Kim had chosen those.

Emerald eyes rolled and Shego scoffed. “Having sex in the school doesn’t mean I don’t respect it. It just means I know this shit is mine and I’ll do whatever I damn well please in it. So, I’m screwing you at some point in time. Hell, I might make it one of our lunch dates and get the demon child to join in.” The very idea put a lecherous grin on Shego’s face. It would be great for all three of them “christen” the school one day soon.

“What more proof do you need that this is your school aside from the fact that you named it?” Kim inquired.

They had all actually named the school. Bonnie thought it was sweet they included her when considering what to call the school, even though it was much more their thing than hers. Hey, she had only had the idea and given it to them as a gift to show her affections for them, but that was the reason they involved her in the naming. It was their way of showing their affections for her. They really had not been able to come up with anything together and just threw out ideas and combined them. It had not worked out well in any of their opinions. The school was called the _Enriching Green Lotus_.

Kim had been the one that wanted to put the term “enriching” somewhere in the name of the school to give off positive vibes and to let parents feel that the school was a good place to leave their children. Out of the dozens of words Shego had come up with for a school name, “green” had been the only one to survive because nothing else she wished to call the school would have fit in with what her lovers had come up with. Bonnie had offered up “lotus” just because she thought the flower was associated with martial arts in someway. Shego had teased Bonnie mercilessly about that, pretending to be offended. After naming the school, they all agree to try their best to never name anything as a team effort again.

“Look, Princess,” Shego said and then she paused as she stalked over to Kim, closing the few feet between them. She put her hands around Kim waist and pulled the redhead to her, pressing their bodies together in a suggestive manner. “We’re going to do what I want to do, simple as that,” she stated with an arrogant smirk and then she stole a kiss from the shorter female’s lips.

Kim responded to the kiss, even though she thought it was terrible idea. Of course, this only encouraged Shego and she smirked as she pulled away from Kim’s mouth. Kim glared at her.

“We’re not going to do it. Someone might come in and they might see us,” Kim argued. She had little desire to be an exhibitionist. She tried to move away from Shego, but the pale woman refused to release her grip even a little.

Shego chuckled. “I’m not talking about doing it right now or in between classes or something like that. I’m talking about once we close up or when it’s lunchtime. I don’t want people around here when we do it. We’re not putting on a show, just breaking our place in.” 

“Still, we can’t do something like that. We have to set a good example. We can’t just go messing around in the school. 

“Pumpkin, I just said I’m not talking about doing it when people are watching. What is wrong with you? What kind of little perv are you?” Shego teased and then she poked the redhead a little bit, tickling her slightly. Kim giggled despite herself.

“Don’t try to make me seem like the bad one here. Now, come on before we’re late,” Kim said while pulling away from her pale lover. She tugged Shego toward the front door in order for them to get out of the building.

“Yeah, we don’t want the demon child breathing fire on us if we’re late,” Shego agreed.

Kim chuckled a bit. She was not the one that would have fire breathed on her if they were late. Bonnie would just blame it all on Shego and yell at her for making them late. Anytime Kim and Shego did something irksome in Bonnie’s opinion, she typically blamed their green-skinned lover, claiming Kim was way too considerate to do such wrongdoings. Shego, of course, did not think it was fair the redhead always had a by for when they did something and she usually hollered at Bonnie for the imbalance in her system. Kim typically watched them go back and forth since she knew they just enjoyed arguing with each other, which she suspected was the reason Bonnie generally just held Shego responsible for things.

The pair exited the building, going out into the relatively warm spring weather. The sun shone brightly over head, getting a smile out of Kim. Shego shook her head, but smiled as well. There was something about Kim’s happiness that was almost infectious.

They walked up the street, going to the café they were to meet Bonnie. They had agreed on a meeting place yesterday; they went to different restaurants most of the time. They were located in a part of the city that had a large amount of restaurants for them to change up most of the time. They had personal favorites and depending on who got to pick where they were going, they had all different kinds of things for lunch.

Bonnie was very much into healthy foods, so she usually picked cafes that served “health junk,” as Shego called it. Shego was more into international cuisine, especially Thai food. Kim was a fast food junkie for the most part and had no problem with picking fast food places for lunch with her girlfriends. Shego often teased her that such a thing was very tacky.

“Wow, you two are on time for once,” Bonnie commented with a teasing smirk as her lovers came to the outdoor café. She had chosen this place for their afternoon meal.

“Shego says we’re usually late because her clothes are complicated,” Kim replied with a smile as she leaned in and kissed Bonnie’s cheek. The gesture was returned.

“Why are you wearing complicated things to school?” Bonnie asked Shego curiously as Kim sat down and Shego came in to kiss Bonnie’s cheek. The gesture was once again returned.

The one frustrating thing about their lunchtime meetings was that they could not be overly affectionate with each other. They did not have a lot of leeway to kiss each other or things like that and it was not because they were not looking to offend anyone that was outside. They just could not run the risk of kissing each other like romantic partners because they were so close to Bonnie’s firm and there was a chance that someone who worked there would see. It would not be such a big deal if only being a lesbian and involved in a trio could not cost Bonnie her job; a job that she thoroughly loved.

“Why do you wear complicated things to work?” Shego countered as she took her seat. The small table was round, so they sat across from each other in a way.

“Obviously I like being unwrapped from them when I come home,” Bonnie answered with a bit of a haughty smile.

“Well, maybe I’m hoping to get unwrapped from them while I’m at the school. Hint, hint,” the green-skinned woman said while looking back and forth between her girlfriends.

“Do you see what I’m working with?” Kim asked Bonnie while rolling her eyes and throwing her hands up in Shego’s direction.

Before the discussion could go any further, a waiter came over. He deposited menus and took their drink orders. He was gone in a flash and they picked up right where they left off.

“Shego, you want to have sex in the school? What is wrong with you?” the tanned female inquired. She could not see the desire or the point of getting laid in the school.

“Yes, I do. It’d be quite the thing and I’m going to get my way. The question is, are you going to be there when it happens or are me and Kim going to have all of the fun?” Shego gave her lovers a demonic smirk they were all too familiar with.

“You’re not fucking Kimmie in the school,” Bonnie stated, as if that would end everything.

“Thank you,” the hero chimed in, even though she knew Bonnie’s opposition to the plan would only make Shego want to do it more.

Shego snorted and rolled her eyes. “What’s with you two? You’re so prudish. I’m not letting this go, you know. I want what I want and I’m going to get what I want. You two might not see it coming, but when you least suspect it, I’m boning both of you in that building and you’re going to love every hot, wet second of it.”

“You better not. You shouldn’t even be thinking about such things. Act like you have some home training,” the turquoise-eyed lawyer said with a glare.

“Really, your mother had to raise you better than this,” Kim added in.

Shego laughed a bit. “You’d be surprised at how well my mother didn’t raise me.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Seriously, sweetness, don’t do that in that school. You might get caught and then you’d be out of students and I know you like teaching, even if you don’t want to admit it,” Bonnie pointed out.

Shego waved the attorney off. She let the subject drop, but it was still on her mind. She believed since it was their school, they could do whatever they wanted and as long as they were somewhat careful, everything should go right. It was like skydiving. She would not jump without a parachute. She would not try to have sex in the school while they had students around or they were expecting someone to come in. Her girlfriends always seemed to think she would try something ridiculous and scandalous just for the shock value of it. She liked teaching, like Bonnie stated, so she could not and would not do anything to jeopardize that.

The waiter returned with their drinks and took their orders. The trio ate lunch and spoke among themselves, causing each other to smile and laugh on occasion. They shared anecdotes about their mornings.

“So, a couple came in today and I think they wanted to know about my class, but it was hard to tell because as they were asking me about kung-fu, they were arguing with each other. For a second, I thought it was like a serious argument because they’re sneaking in sly names and the girl is being an argument ninja, bringing up all sorts of other shit, hitting him where it hurts,” Shego said, waving a French fry in her hand.

Bonnie and Kim nodded. “So, what were they arguing about?” Bonnie asked before eating some of her grilled chicken salad.

Emerald eyes rolled as Shego snorted. “Just the stupid cell phone bill.”

“Wow, that is a particularly silly thing to argue about,” Kim said. She managed to already eat half of her tuna melt. Her lovers could only wonder how someone her size could eat so much and so quickly.

Bonnie nodded. “Outrageous. I definitely would never use good argument material on you two about the phone bill. I’d save it for something really important, like the dishes.”

The ladies all laughed. The dishes were hardly a big deal in their house. Kim was usually the one to do them, as she was one amongst them who did not cook. It was only fair, Kim’s own words, and her lovers did not argue.

“So, a near fight almost broke out at the firm this morning,” Bonnie reported.

“And this is a ‘professional’ law firm?” Shego scoffed and shook her head. She ate more of her fries, if only to get to them before Kim did as the redhead eyed them like she would devour them in a moment.

“A coffee vender accidentally, or perhaps it was on purpose because you can never be sure, spilled his wares in a rather bitchy lawyer at the firm,” Bonnie told them and then she could see Shego perk up. She knew immediately what the former villain was about to say. “No, it was not me,” Bonnie hissed.

Shego held up her hands in surrender, but smiled. “I never said it was.” And, several of her fries disappeared from her plate into Kim’s mouth. She narrowed her gaze on the hero, who smiled.

“Your face said it all. Anyway, the lawyer took quite offense to the mistake. I doubt it entered her mind that it could’ve truly been an accident. She almost tackled the slender coffee seller, but he dipped out of the way and she landed on her chest on the floor,” Bonnie laughed at this point and her lovers did the same.

Kim and Shego could hardly imagine this going on in a professional firm. It had to be a thing to witness. Bonnie had to take a deep breath before she could finish the story. Shego had to glare at Kim to make sure no more fries suddenly vanished down her throat.

“It was hilarious as far as the crowd that gathered was concerned, too, but the lawyer was understandably embarrassed and upset by what happened. The bosses showed up before anything got out of control, but the lawyer did dish out several threats against the slightly shaken coffee vender,” Bonnie said.

Shego and Kim laughed more while Bonnie ate more of her salad. Shego could understand the unnamed lawyer’s fury at the little coffee merchant, but she thought that it was also amusing that the lawyer had not been able to do anything, too. From the things that she heard about the people at Bonnie’s job, she disliked them anyway and always thought that it was funny when something did not go their way and Bonnie was not affected negatively in someway.

“I bet that chick had it coming anyway,” Shego said and Bonnie did not offer anything to refute that.

Kim had a funny and cute story to share about her little students. They had tried to mimic a move that only one of them had seen Shego’s students doing. Every time they tried the move, they fell on their faces. They were all so determined, but they had not been able to do it and all they did for the whole class was beg Kim to show them how. She had to remind them that they needed to know the basics before they could try anything advanced like the older students. Since her kids were so serious, they accepted that, but they were still kids and wanted to try the other move anyway.

“Your brats really creep me the hell out,” Shego commented, shaking her head.

“Don’t call them brats. They’re great kids. They have to be how you were when you were four years old,” Kim remarked with a teasing smile.

“I bet she was all serious, but she probably doesn’t remember. After all, you were four like what, fifty years ago?” Bonnie taunted their green-skinned lover.

Shego frowned; her age was something she hated when her girlfriends brought up, especially now. They both knew she approached a special age and it was not an age she looked forward to. It did not help that Bonnie teased her more and more as the hideous day steady sneaked up on them.

“At least I was born from human parents,” Shego snapped. 

“Hey, we can’t pick our parents because if we could, I damn sure wouldn’t have picked mine, especially with the brats they already had. You’d probably pick your mother a hundred times if given the chance,” Bonnie riposted with an almost cruel smirk.

The pale woman frowned even deeper. Her lovers also knew she hated it when they brought up her mother because they thought it was so clear that Shego loved her mother, even though she pretended so hard to hate the woman. It was just that Shego made it a point to call her mother once a week to make sure Isabel was all right and also to check in and let her mother know she was all right. She always acted annoyed with it, but she never missed a phone call. Plus, the calls sometimes went on for a while, like she actually enjoyed talking to Isabel, which Shego would always insist was not the case.

“What do you want for your big day, anyway?” Kim asked Shego curiously.

“For you to shut up about it,” Shego answered with some real attitude. She did not even want to think about that dreadful day. “And stop eating my fries,” she added with a frown, moving the basket out of Kim’s reach.

Kim pouted a bit and the expression cut through Shego like a buzz saw. Still, she did not want to talk about her birthday and she would like to eat some of her lunch. So, she just glared. Kim had her own fries, all of which Kim devoured already, but that was beside the point.

“Come on, sweetie. Don’t be a bitch about everything. Tell us what you want,” Bonnie urged their raven-haired lover. Reaching over, she patted Shego’s hand.

The lunch was officially getting on Shego’s nerves now. She made a tight fist in anger and was about to holler at both of her girlfriends, but a distraction showed up. Three young men walked by their table at the outside café and checked the ladies out. Instead of continuing on their way, the males stepped over to the women. The lovers all looked at each other and then turned their attention to the men intruding on their time together.

“Hey, beautiful,” one of the young men said to Bonnie, which earned him a contemptible look and scoff from her.

Bonnie frowned and held up her hand. “Hold on, before you go any further, look at my outfit and tell me if you think that I’m remotely in your league.” She was beyond serious.

Bonnie was dressed in an expensive suit, complete with her usual tie. In contrast, the males were dressed in worn out looking jeans, complete with rips and holes, t-shirts, and tattered baseball caps. The clothing did not seem to bother the men, though. They continued looking interested in the lovely ladies.

“Come on, babe, be nice,” the male eyeing Bonnie urged her. 

“Wow, ugly and stupid. Great pick,” Shego taunted their tanned lover. She even shot the lawyer two thumbs up to tease her more.

“He looks better than the one leaning over you,” Bonnie pointed out.

Shego took the time to look at the guy near her and put on an exaggerated look of terror. She then turned back to Bonnie and made another horrified face. Bonnie just smirked.

“Okay, wow. He’s way uglier than the dude hitting on you,” Shego concurred. “It’s damn near uncanny that such a thing is possible.” This comment got a laugh out of her girlfriends while the fellows looked a little deflated, which Shego and Bonnie thought was a damn good thing.

“Look, man, I’m going to honest with, you’re wasting your fucking time,” Shego said to the fellow standing by her before he even had a chance to open his mouth to hit on her. “Not just your time, but mine too. I wouldn’t fuck you in someone else’s body,” she remarked.

“I’m with her on that one,” Bonnie commented, curling her lip as if something smelled bad in the area.

“And me makes three,” Kim added in with an impish smile.

“Hey, we’re not going to just let you talk about us like that,” the guy next to Kim declared.

“Oh, really?” A dangerous half-smirk spread across Shego’s face like she was just hoping that he would say something ignorant like that.

“Sweetie, don’t. We don’t need the legal mess right now,” Bonnie pointed out, knowing Shego was just itching to teach the three males a tough lesson.

“Oh, I don’t think these three are stupid enough to go to the cops and say they got their asses handed to them by one woman,” Shego commented, still smirking like a demon that spotted a new target to torment.

“You think you could kick our asses?” the male by Bonnie asked with a scoff.

“Even if I can’t, I think this can.” Shego ignited one of her hands in sudden large burst of plasma, which caused the guys to leap back in shock and horror.

Bonnie and Kim barely reacted at all, having expected that to happen. Their pale lover liked to scare people off when they hit on her or them more than she would fight them. Looking at the guys right now, they were plenty frightened. It would not be surprising to find them wet themselves, actually.

“What the hell are you, lady?” the guys all asked in terror. They looked like they had seen the devil and it was Shego.

“Pure evil, but I can get worse if necessary,” she answered, smiling with a show of teeth. It was down right predatory. “So, you guys better vamoose while you got the chance or I might just break your legs.”

The males wisely ran off, tripping over each other as if they could not get far enough away from the women fast enough. The ladies all chuckled and shook their heads while Shego dispelled her powers. They turned their attention back to each other. They returned to eating their lunch and brought up other conversation, but did not bring anything back to Shego’s big day, which she was very happy about.

They enjoyed each other’s company as usual. They supposed they would never get sick of each other because spending so much time together had yet to get on their nerves, even though they purposely got on each other’s nerves. Hell, maybe that helped keep things interesting. They had not run out of things to talk about and even when they did hit pauses, they could just enjoy the silence with each other. They were all quite happy to have each other, it would seem, and they hoped things remained that way. 

-8-8-8-8-

Kim and Shego were sparring before they were about to go home for the day. They were dressed in gym clothes rather than gis, which were what Kim’s students always showed up in. Shego had on just a black sports’ bra and yoga pants that stopped at mid-calf level. Kim was dressed in a white tank top and yellow basketball shorts. They did not teach in those outfits, but they did not wear gis either when they ran classes either.

They went back and forth as usual, attacking, blocking, and countering each other. They moved as if they were actually one force instead of two opposing powers. They were almost like a swirling hurricane when they went at each other. Every couple of minutes, one of them hit the green mats, but jumped back up before a second passed.

“Why don’t you just stay down, Princess?” Shego growled as she started a new assault on the redhead, who just leaped up from the canvas.

“I’ll do it after I whip your green butt,” Kim replied while blocking and dodging everything that her lover came at her with.

“You having sick delusions again?” Shego asked with her usual taunting smile.

The adventurer scoffed and continued on avoiding her girlfriend’s punches. She eventually ducked and went in for her own attack. Shego quickly got on the defensive and blocked hard kicks coming from the small hero. She caught Kim’s leg and kicked the other one out from underneath the redhead. Kim hit the deck once more, but was far from down and out. She controlled her landing and kicked out as she hit the floor, forcing Shego back when the blow landed.

Kim climbed to her feet while Shego regained her balance. They ran at each other, both taking the offensive and looking to land the same punch. They put their left hands up to catch the right fists that were coming at them, so they both avoided the hits in the same manner. They smirked at each other.

“We’ve been doing this for too long,” Kim commented. They thought so much alike that they were now just mirroring each other it seemed.

“It’s never too long, Princess. Besides, we’ve always had this weird connection,” Shego pointed out.

“Never like this,” Kim replied. They had never attacked with the same move and avoided the move in the same way.

“Well, it just means that we have to think more outside the box.”

“We get anymore outside of the box and we’ll be back in the box.”

Shego laughed a bit. “You’d think with all the different styles of kung-fu out there, we’d never run out of moves to do.”

“It’s not so much running out of moves. We think too much alike when fighting now.”

Shego nodded slightly to concur with that. They were going to have to do something about this if things continued. She just was not sure what. Kim also did not know what they should do. They continued on sparring anyway.

-8-8-8-8-

Doctor Wanda Wong parked her car across the street. She looked at the Enriching Green Lotus from car. James Possible told her about the school and how Kim ran it. She was looking to get her young granddaughter into an after-school activity and wanted to know more about Kim’s school. She thought it would be an extraordinary experience for her grandchild to take martial arts and be taught by a great hero like Kim. She hoped Kim was at least in now; James had not known all the details and was unable to tell her the hours that the school was open.

She walked over to the building and looked in the window. The whole place was empty as far as she could tell. She tried the door anyway to see if it was open, considering Kim or some other employee might still be around and able to tell her the information she sought. She called out a “hello,” but did not get an answer. She was set to turn around and come back another day, but she heard noises in the back. She decided to go see what was going on, just in case.

She did not make it far before she was stopped dead in her tracks. She made it to the opening of the changing room and could not believe her eyes. She found Kim, but the redhead was not alone. Kim was pinned against the row of lockers and Shego was the one who had her pinned, with her mouth mostly. Kim was not fighting back in the slightest and had her arms wrapped around Shego’s neck, as if trying to pull the former thief closer. The doctor gasped, which caught the lovers’ attention. Kim’s mouth dropped open from shock when she saw who it was.

“Doctor Wong, this is so not even what it looks like,” Kim tried to assure the scientist as she pushed Shego away from her.

The statement offended Shego, drawing a frown from her that seemed to take over her whole face. How dare Kim deny their relationship! They were in love and she just could not believe she was being denied while standing right there. She was not about to allow that and pulled the hero right back to her.

“It’s exactly what it looks like,” Shego informed the woman intruding on them. A woman looked familiar, but she could not exactly place where. She had met a lot of people in her life, so she could not be expected to remember every single person, even if she had kidnapped the person before.

“No, it’s not,” Kim argued while trying to pull away. Damn it, her lover did not understand and she did not have time to explain.

“Yes, it is,” Shego practically growled and then she forced a kiss on Kim. She figured it would teach Kim to never deny them, even if she was not openly gay around people.

Doctor Wanda Wong did not know what to say, so she said the first thing that came to mind. “Sorry for interrupting,” she apologized and then she hurried out of the building. It seemed like the best thing to do.

“Doctor Wong, wait!” Kim hollered, but that did not stop the scientist’s flight. Kim’s whole expression dropped and she tried to pull away from her girlfriend to go after the stunned scientist. She then turned to Shego and glared at the pale woman with such fury and venom in her gaze that Shego was happy expressions were not lethal, lest she would have dropped dead at that very moment.

“What’s with that face?” Shego asked in an insulted tone, upset because Kim had the nerve to be angry with her after denying their relationship with her standing right there. Hell, denying their relationship with the mouth that was almost still covered with hers. It was an affront to her and their feelings for each other as far as the pale woman was concerned.

“Nothing,” Kim growled and pushed her lover violently away from her.

“What’s wrong, Kimmie? Mad that someone knows we’re an item?” Shego teased.

Kim ignored her and went to go change her clothes. Shego made a puzzled face; Kim was acting strangely. Sure, Kim was the one in the relationship that usually lost pointless arguments, but that did not mean that she would back down from them and even if she did back down, it had to take a few times back and forth for her to do such a thing. Just walking away was not like her.

“Princess, seriously, what’s wrong?” Shego asked, chasing after the petite hero. Yes, she liked to tease and play around, but she did not enjoy genuinely upsetting one of her lovers unless they managed to upset her first.

“Nothing,” the redhead replied in an even gruffer tone than before.

“Princess.” Shego reached out to grab the slender hero, but she dodged the contact, which caused Shego to frown. Okay, now, she was really pissed. “Kimmie, stop acting like such a brat and just tell me what the hell is wrong. This bullshit of giving me an attitude won’t solve anything.”

“Just get dressed,” Kim countered in a huff.

Shego snorted in anger, but decided that she was done with Kim. If Kim wanted to be a bitch just because she got out-ed in front of someone she knew then that was on her. She should not have denied their relationship in the first place as far as Shego was concerned. Then they would not have to go through anything now. Hopefully, Kim learned her lesson.

The pair got dressed in silence and then closed the school up properly. As soon as they finished locking everything up, Bonnie pulled up to pick them up, which was their norm for the most part. The tanned lawyer was the only one out of them with a car now because Kim never bothered to get her car repaired from the accident that she had.

They got in the car and for the first time did not have a battle over who was riding shotgun. Kim slid into the backseat without a word, leaving Shego the front. Bonnie greeted Shego with the usual kiss and waited for Kim to move up, so that they could exchange a kiss too, but Kim seemed rather preoccupied, being distracted by whatever it was that was causing her face to scrunch up in anger.

“Baby, what’s wrong?” Bonnie asked as she pulled off.

“Leave her alone. She’s just being pissy because someone she knows just found out she’s a dyke,” Shego commented, reaching for the radio. Bonnie swatted her hand.

“What?” Bonnie inquired with a puzzled expression overcoming her face.

“She’s just being pissy. Leave her alone. She’ll snap out of it sooner or later,” Shego replied.

“Baby,” Bonnie called to Kim one more time, just to see if she would get a different explanation as to why the redhead looked the way she did. Kim did not respond and Bonnie decided she would leave Kim alone. Maybe it was something that Kim just needed time before she let it out. She would be there for Kim when Kim was ready to share… and then she would somehow blame the whole thing on Shego as she was certain this was somehow Shego’s fault. 

-8-8-8-8-

The phone call Kim dreaded since early that evening came when they were all hardly home for an hour. The only thing she had gotten to do was take a shower. Kim had been the last one in and the only reason she got out was because Bonnie informed her that her parents had called. She sighed; she knew that they would.

“Tell them to hold on for a second. I need to put on some pajamas,” Kim said in a low tone.

Bonnie wondered why her love sounded so down and out about having to speak with her parents. Usually, Kim loved to get a called from her family and would grin from ear to ear, as if she was surprised and delighted that she had not been forgotten. Bonnie thought the way Kim acted was silly, but she could understand why. Added to that, it was kind of cute.

“Kimmie says that she’ll be with you in a second. She needs to put on some pajamas since she was in the shower when you called,” Bonnie reported, making sure to add that part of the shower so the Possibles did not think anything else was going on where Kim needed to get dressed. She did not want to scar the poor doctors.

“All right. Well, how’s everything with you girls?” Mrs. Possible asked. Both she and her husband were on the line, waiting for their daughter to come. They had a few choice words to share with her.

“Everything’s fine as always. Kim’s a handful, but I’m watching out for her,” Bonnie replied in a lighthearted tone.

“That’s good. How are things at work?”

“Everything’s fine. I just settled a big case a couple of days ago. I had the other lawyers running scared. They were looking for corners to hide in,” Bonnie answered, smiling proudly to herself as she remembered the case.

“That’s good.”

“You’re a wonderful girl,” Mr. Possible added, which made Bonnie smile. It was always nice to get their approval.

The conversation only carried for a few more seconds before Kim came out of the bathroom in her pajamas. Bonnie handed Kim the phone and the redhead did something her lover believed to be weird, the hero returned to the confines of the bathroom to hold a conversation with her parents. Kim had never done such a thing before. Bonnie was so dumbfounded by the move that she stood there for almost a minute, just staring at the closed door.

“Hey, demon child, what the hell are you doing?” Shego inquired as she came upstairs. She was wondering what the hold up was on them figuring out how they would waste the night away.

“I think something’s really wrong with Kimmie,” Bonnie answered in a low voice. She did not want to disturb Kim or even hint to Kim that she was worried yet.

A pale forehead wrinkled. “What do you mean?”

“She’s taking a phone call in the bathroom.”

Shego’s face did not improve. “So?”

“A phone call from her parents,” the turquoise-eyed lawyer replied.

“Yeah, so?” Shego asked. She did not see what was so bizarre. She figured since Kim was in such a foul mood, it made sense she would do something ridiculous like take a call in the bathroom from whoever was on the line. Kim was being a drama queen.

Bonnie studied Shego for a moment, trying to figure out why the older woman was not taking this more seriously. “She’s never done that before, doy. What happened earlier? What’s wrong with her?”

Shego scoffed and shrugged. “Hell if I know. As far as I know, she’s just pissed that some lady she knew saw us kissing in the locker room.”

Bonnie shrugged as well because she did not see the connection. She did not see why Kim would take a call in the bathroom from her parents if she had a problem with some woman that she knew saw her kissing Shego. She left the top floor with Shego and they tried to figure out what they should do with their time. A movie on television caught their attention. Well, more allowed them to argue over it, but that was good enough for them.

Over an hour later, they realized that Kim was still in the bathroom. Shego was the first to allow her curiosity to get the better of her, so she went to the door and tried to listen on the conversation. About a minute later, Bonnie seemed to have the same idea, but when she saw Shego was at the door, she attempted to take the moral high ground.

“Sweetie, what the hell are you doing?” Bonnie inquired in a whisper, glaring at the plasma-wielder.

“Same thing you’re about to do, I’m willing to bet,” Shego replied.

“I wasn’t—” the lawyer attempted to deny what she actually was about to do, but she was cut off.

“Going to keep going on your way? I know you weren’t. Now, shut the hell up and come listen,” the pale woman commanded.

Bonnie shrugged, figuring it probably was not the smartest idea to have a heated argument outside the room that their lover was in attempting to have a civilized conversation. She went to the door, standing next to Shego and pressing her ear against the thin material. She could not hear much, though. It sounded like Kim was just mumbling and she was not even doing that very often. Whatever conversation going on was mostly on the Doctors Possible’s end.

“What do you think they’re talking about?” Bonnie asked Shego in a very low voice.

“I don’t know. She’s been talking like that since I got here,” Shego answered.

“I wonder what the hell is going on. This is really weird,” Bonnie stated.

Shego nodded a bit. She was inclined to agree now. It was strange. Maybe she had jumped the gun on chalking Kim’s attitude up to being caught, but she could not figure out why Kim was bothered by that. Maybe the phone call and the attitude were not connected.

They stayed there for a little while, hoping Kim would clear her speech up and give them a clue as to what was going on. The muttering continued, though, and they were not sure if they had the gist of the situation at all. They gave up after five minutes and started walking back toward the stairs.

“I’m going to make dinner, okay?” Bonnie said. It would help take her mind off of Kim, for a while anyway.

“I guess. I’ll tell you if she ever comes out of the bathroom,” Shego replied.

The two parted ways as they hit the ground level. Bonnie went to the kitchen while Shego went and crashed on the sofa. A half-hour later, dinner was done, but Kim was still in the bathroom. They wondered what she could be talking about with her parents for so long and not even coming out for dinner.

“Maybe she’s on the phone with someone else,” Shego offered because she thought that was as good an explanation as any.

“I don’t know. We’ll find out in a minute,” Bonnie replied as she started toward the bathroom.

“You’re going to tell her dinner’s done?” Shego guessed.

“And wait to see what she says.”

Shego nodded because it was the best plan that they had. They went back upstairs and Bonnie knocked on the bathroom door. Kim made a grunting noise to acknowledge the knock, but the door did not open.

“Um… baby, dinner’s ready. You coming out to eat?” Bonnie asked, hoping she sounded normal. She did not want Kim to suspect they were worried or had eavesdropped on her.

“Go ahead and eat without me,” Kim replied.

Bonnie literally had to take a step back from the door. Shego’s mouth fell open and her eyebrows drew in closer together. They were both speechless for longer than they were comfortable with.

“Eat without her?” Shego echoed in a shaky voice. They always had their meals together, as long as everyone was getting along anyway. The very idea of leaving one of them out was blasphemous.

“Baby, you know we’re not going to eat without you,” Bonnie informed the redhead.

“Go ahead. I don’t know how long I’ll be,” Kim answered, trying her best to sound normal, but she was not doing the best job.

“Princess, what the hell is going on with you?” Shego demanded with a snarl. She hoped it did not have anything to do with her actions from earlier. She had not been trying to get the hero in trouble. She just disliked being denied; it seemed to downplay her importance to Kim and she did not like that.

“Just go ahead and eat,” Kim seemed to plead with them.

Bonnie and Shego looked at each other. Bonnie arched an eyebrow while Shego pursed her lips as they tried to silently figure out what was wrong. They decided to leave Kim be and they went to eat dinner. By the time they were done, Kim was still upstairs. It was utterly baffling. They decided to wait for her in the living room and she did not join them for another hour.

Kim came downstairs, looking quite unlike herself, but not in an angry or upset manner. She seemed almost tired and distant. There were lines under her eyes, which were red, and her hair was frayed, almost as if she had just crawled out of bed.

She flopped down on the sofa between her lovers, earning a questioning look from each of them because she practically squeezed in between them, which was unlike her. she usually would have just sat in the open space and then cuddled up with them. They looked at each other when Kim did not explain herself and Shego decided she needed to ask.

“Princess, what the hell was that all about? You were in the fucking bathroom for like three hours,” Shego pointed out, frowning slightly as she stated the obvious.

“No, my parents just wanted to talk,” Kim replied, trying to sound normal, but sounding rather dismissive of the matter. Adding to that, she waved her hand, brushing it off.

“About what?” Shego asked because she had witnessed conversations between the redhead and her parents on the phone and they were never liked what just happened. What just occurred was totally uncharted.

“About what happened today,” the redhead answered. Her shoulders slumped and her eyes drifted to the floor.

Shego’s face tensed with a scowl and she practically glared at Kim. “What the hell happened today?” Why the hell was nothing making sense with Kim today? Shego was concern Kim would be the girlfriend to drive her mad.

Kim sighed and rubbed her face with her hands. Her eyes remained on the floor. “Doctor Wong works with my dad. Apparently, the second she made it out of the school, she decided it would be best to give him a call and tell him about what she saw.” She still tried to sound normal, but she actually sounded tired about the whole ordeal now.

Shego shook her head and scoffed through the corner of her mouth. “So, what, that whole fucking call was about you being gay?” She supposed she could understand such a conversation going on for about three hours. She knew her mother wanted to talk about it for almost that long when she told her mother she was a lesbian. Well, it was not so much about her being gay, but still, it was a long conversation.

Huffing, Kim turned and glared at the plasma-wielder. “Damn it, Shego, my parents know I’m gay.”

“Then what’s the fucking problem?” Shego inquired, throwing her hands up.

“She saw me kissing you is the problem,” the redhead pointed out.

Shego still was not following. “So?”

Turquoise eyes went wide with understanding and Bonnie gasped. “Oh, god. Don’t tell me, your parents think you’re cheating on me, don’t they?” She could see how that would happen if the woman who spoke with the Possibles described the female she saw Kim kissing. They would know that was not her rather quickly.

Kim nodded in confirmation. She had just been screamed on for over three hours because her parents thought she was cheating on Bonnie with “a woman with long black hair.” Kim was not surprised by her parents finding out about what Doctor Wong witnessed nor was she surprised by the phone call. She had been surprised by the way the conversation had gone. It was not really a conversation. It was a three-hour admonishment on her conduct and how she was raised better than her actions showed. A very harsh admonishment at that and she was pretty sure she had lost any and all respect her parents had for her.

She supposed it had been all right that she had not been able to get a word in edgewise. What was she supposed to say? “No, Mom, Dad, it was all right because Shego’s our girlfriend”? That would have opened two cans of worms she was not looking to step near just yet. They would want to know what she meant by “our girlfriend” and, of course, they both would practically demand to know if she meant Shego, as in her former arch foe that was supposed to be dead. She would probably still be on the phone if she had used those words.

“Okay, so, they think you’re cheating on the demon child. Did you explain that’s not really what’s happening?” Shego asked, reaching for Kim, but deciding against touching the hero right now. She thought that an explanation of their relationship to her parents could justify the three-plus hours that she had spent on the phone.

“They didn’t give me a chance. Besides, what was I supposed to say? I’m going to tell my parents, who have met you on several occasions in the past, that we’re all in a relationship together?” Kim countered. There was a conversation that would take much more than three hours.

Shego thought on that one. “Good point. I guess that would complicate things a little more than they already are.” She scratched her head. “Do your parents think I’m dead, too?”

“Oh, yeah,” Kim said and nodded for emphasis.

“That would make for an awkward fucking conversation,” the pale former thief conceded the matter.

“No kidding,” the redhead muttered.

“Are you okay?” Bonnie asked Kim while reaching over to rub the redhead’s shoulders because she already knew the answer to that question.

“I’m fine. Did you put the food up?” the hero countered.

“I made you a plate. It’s on the counter,” Bonnie replied.

“Thanks, baby,” Kim said and she pretty much ripped herself away from the couch to go get herself something to eat. She tried to walk away as if nothing was wrong, but the more that she tried, the more she failed. She was so stiff because she was trying not to slouch. She limped slightly because she was trying not to slide her feet. So, in trying to compensate for one thing, it just made her act odd in other manners.

“I’ve never seen her like this before,” Shego said.

“I have… once,” the lawyer commented.

“When was that?”

“When she thought you died. She tried so hard to make it seem like everything was all right, but the more she tried, the more I could tell that she was hurting on the inside. Whenever I tried to get close, she’d pull away. I wonder what they said to her. I wish I could make the pain go away,” Bonnie stated with some longing in her voice and sadness shining in those bright blue eyes.

Shego nodded in agreement. Kim seemed almost defeated in her mannerisms, but she was trying so hard to cover it up and be her usual self. Shego could not imagine dealing with a depressed Kim for the night that she saw ahead, so she wondered how Bonnie had managed to put up with from the time that Kim thought she was dead to the time she revealed herself to be alive.

“Bonnie,” Shego said, giving the lawyer a side glance.

“Yeah?” the tanned beauty answered.

“You’re a lot stronger than I usually give you credit for,” Shego commented with a small smile. She supposed out of the three of them, she always looked at Bonnie as their damsel in distress and they were the knights in shining armor, but emotionally Bonnie had to be the one to hold Kim together sometimes.

Bonnie’s face scrunched up as a scowl settled on her lips. “What the hell do you mean by that?” she demanded, taking the remark as an insult.

Shego waved the attitude off. “Don’t take offense, demon child. I mean it in a good way. I mean, I don’t think I could handle Kimmie being like that for as long as you did.”

Bonnie laughed a bit. “It’s hard, but I know it’s worth it. I remember back then, I was a little worried when I noticed she stopped acting that way and seemed to perk up and actually go back to normal. I didn’t know what to think and I didn’t know how to approach the subject because she never talked about your ‘death’ bothering her. The only thing she ever did say about your death was when she found out she couldn’t believe it. But, I’m guessing she went back to normal on the day you showed up in her life, even though she never told me what day that was. I remember she was really happy for a while and then, after she started going out every week to meet with you, she started coming home depressed again. It took me about a month to figure out she had fallen in love with you and I thought she was going to leave me for you.”

It was Shego’s turn to laugh a little bit. “I didn’t think she was ever going to leave you. It pissed me off so much.”

“Is that why you came back? For her? Because you loved her?” Bonnie asked with an arched eyebrow. She leaned in close, not wanting to miss this answer, if Shego ever gave one.

“No, that’s not it. I just missed her, I guess. My life, whatever it was, just felt weird without her being around. I don’t really know. I mean, I guess I fell for her pretty quick after that, but I didn’t expect it or anything,” Shego tried to explain, scratching her head as she thought about it. She was not sure when or how it happened, but somewhere along the line she had fallen in love for the redheaded hero.

Bonnie’s brow furrowed slightly. “Well, how did you even let Kim know you were alive?”

“We never told you this story, huh?” the green-skinned woman realized.

“No.”

“Well, I guess we can spare the minutes while Kim avoids us, huh?” Shego asked and Bonnie nodded in agreement.

-*-(Flashback)-*-

Kim inspected the scene of her latest call. There seemed to be a string of burglaries going around and she had only just been called in. She was slightly insulted by that, even though she had been busy. But, she was always busy and she hated when people thought they did not need her help, yet they ended up calling her in anyway. They would save so much trouble if they just called her the first time something happened. _I’d be able to nip things in the bud before they grow out of control_.

She had hoped she would recognize the style of the thief and find out a certain moss-hued villainess was not really dead and gone as she had been told four months earlier. It hurt much more than it should to find out Shego was presumed dead. She always reminded herself that Shego was “presumed dead,” so there was a chance she might still be alive. But, even still, she felt weird and a little foolish to hope.

She did not understand why she missed the older martial artist as much as she did. In retrospect, she was able to notice that through the years, her relationship with Shego had evolved, but that still did not explain the hollow feeling that seemed engraved in her body now that the smart-mouth thief was gone. They had not been friends of any kind, even though they had shared some rather witty banter and were rather comfortable in each other’s presences despite their circumstances. But, when Doctor Director called her and told her that Drakken and Shego had died in an explosion, she felt like she would have a heart attack. She had been close to fainting from the news and only her will to not freak Bonnie out stopped her from losing consciousness. But, she had needed to sit down.

She knew it was an odd reaction and she had considered it would pass after a few days, but it was still there months later. It seemed like something was missing from her life without Shego. Chasing Drakken and Shego seemed to have turned into a game to her, or something like that, and going after Shego had come to be something like hanging out with a friend. It was just an odd relationship she could not put into words and now that Shego was no longer around, it left her with a huge hole in her life and in her schedule, which made it noticeable, even though she got plenty of calls. It was just that none of those calls had to do with Drakken or Shego anymore. Her heart ached at each call.

Still, the hope Shego was the one behind the break-ins existed in the redheaded hero as she inspected the scene. She used the Kimmunicator to scan for latent fingerprints and other clues that could not be seen by the naked eye. And then, on the floor in very small print, she came across something strange, but it did seem to indicate she had not been hoping in vain. There was a message that said, “Princess, meetcha at the café up the street this afternoon.”

“Shego?” Kim whispered to herself and her heart thumped with something she could not place, something powerful and good. She looked at her watch to see if it was the afternoon. It was, so she figured that it might be best to check out that invisible lead; the message could only be seen in a special light.

The redhead took off up the street, looking out for a café and hoping Shego was somewhere in sight. She saw a couple of eateries, but no customers resembled Shego. She was about to give up, considering she had just imagined those words or something like that, even though she did not see how she could see such a specific illusion without any cause. And then, she caught sight of some rather pale legs hanging out of some cut-off shorts. She followed the legs up to the neck and up to the face, finding them to be just as pale and also belonging to the person who left her the message.

Kim had to use all of her self-control to not call out for Shego, which the green-skinned woman sort of noticed. She saw Kim in the distance and the excited run sort of gave her a clue as to the frame of mind that Kim was in. There was also the giant smile on Kim’s face. _It would seem I was missed_ , Shego thought with a smile. The very idea brightened her day considering how much she missed the strange little redhead.

The hero was on her in a hurry and surprised them both by throwing herself on Shego, embracing her before either of them knew what she was doing. And then Kim looked down at Shego to make sure it was her, even though she was very sure it was the villainess. She was hidden underneath her mop of ebony locks and her emerald eyes were peeking out from behind sunglasses. Shego smirked until she noticed the overwhelmed, relieved look in Kim’s eyes. Her smirk transformed into a tiny smile. She did not mind the hug.

“Sorry,” Kim apologized as she realized what she did and she removed herself from the pale woman. She stared down at Shego, incredulous to what she was seeing, as if she was looking at a ghost.

“Well, don’t just stand there gawking, Princess. Have a seat,” Shego offered in her usual tone, as if she had not been missing for the past four months.

“Shego, what the hell? I thought you were dead,” Kim said. Her mind reeled from this, even though she had hoped. Added to that, her mind wanted to know why she had thrown herself into Shego’s arms and hugged her like it was the last thing she would ever do. She never gave herself an answer for that question.

“Yeah, about that, as you can see, I’m kind of alive,” Shego commented, forcing out a chuckle. She was alive, but she did not totally feel like she was for some reason. “So, are you going to have a seat or just keep looming over me like some demented hummingbird?”

Kim wordlessly took the seat across from Shego. She continued to stare at the older woman, wondering if she had hit her head somewhere. Maybe she had cracked her skull and was hallucinating.

Shego continued to smile as she looked back at Kim. The redhead seemed utterly amazed. Shego supposed that was fine. At least Kim was not angry or talking about taking her in or anything like that. She guessed it was a good idea to reveal herself to Kim, if that embrace meant anything anyway.

“Shego, what are you doing here? Are you the one behind all those burglaries?” the redhead inquired once her voice returned to her. She had sure to speak in a low tone, but her voice was eager and a little fast.

“Yeah,” Shego answered easily.

Even though Kim suspected as much, her brow still furrowed in confusion. “Why? What the hell is wrong with you?”

“It’s okay. I haven’t kept anything I stole. I just… well, I was trying to get your attention. I left you a message in, like, five heists, but when you didn’t show up, I returned the junk I stole and just moved on. I’m not so into the stealing things anymore,” the pale woman admitted with a nonchalant shrug. It was the solid truth. She did not feel like doing anything from her old life anymore, except for seeing Kim it seemed.

Olive green eyes went wide from the confession. Stealing had always seemed to be one of Shego’s favorite pastimes. “No?” the younger woman asked in a stunned tone.

Sighing, Shego shook her head. “No, it sort of lost its flare.”

Kim rubbed her forehead and sat back. “Then why’d you start these heists?”

“Like I said, I needed to get your attention somehow. I mean, I went by your house, but you surprisingly don’t live there anymore. I forgot that you’re a big girl now. I didn’t know where you lived, so I figured I’d get your attention in the old fashion way,” Shego explained with a small smile.

“Why? What did you want my attention for?”

Shego sighed a bit; she knew that question was coming. She already knew she would have to try her best to tell the truth because of the reason she had come. She needed to keep Kim in her life and she guessed that the best way for that to happen would be to tell the hero.

“You know, Princess, in these past few months on my own after seriously nearly dying, I’ve done some soul searching and tried to do some new things with my life. I don’t want to be a stooge for any more madmen. Hell, I don’t even want to steal things anymore. I don’t really know what I want to do anymore, but I do know I want to keep the few good things I had in my life and you were one of those good things. You’re a constant in my life and being away from you for these few months made me realize that I liked hanging around you, beating you up and everything,” the pale woman answered.

“You didn’t beat me up,” Kim argued in a good-natured tone.

Shego smiled and laughed a bit, looking as arrogant as ever, but different from before, too. There was something in her eyes; a haughty glint was missing. “Yeah, I did,” she insisted in a lighthearted tone.

“No, you didn’t.”

“Yeah, I did and if you want proof, we can go find a spot right now to throw down,” Shego stated, tilting her chin in a challenge.

“We’re not going to fight just like that.”

“Then you give up?” Shego teased and put her hands in the air. “Well, I win.”

Kim frowned. “Hold on, you can’t just go declaring yourself the winner to a fight we haven’t even had.”

“I just did.”

“No, you can’t do that,” the redhead huffed, more playful than serious.

“Then let’s go rumble right now and I’ll declare myself the winner after I make you kiss the canvas,” Shego said.

Kim ended up walking off with the supposed dead woman, looking for a place to have a match. They slipped into fighting as if they had done it just yesterday and not months ago. They both felt relief as they moved together, like a great burden was lifted off their shoulders. It was like things were supposed to be as they were and it was wonderful to fight without any threat hanging overhead. They could just go until they dropped and Shego would not even have to run away before things were settled. It was sublime.

“So… what happened, Shego? Why was everyone so certain you’re dead?” Kim asked as they settled against a wall, wanting to catch their breath.

Shego sighed and scratched her cheek. It took a long while for her to answer, but Kim gave her all the time she needed. “I don’t know what Doctor D did, but his latest machine blew up.”

“And you got caught in that?”

Shego looked off into the distance. “Yeah…”

“If you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to.”

Shego shook her head. “Yeah, but I was hurt for a long time. I was at the machine and I left a lot of blood at the scene. I guess they figured no human being could live without that much blood.”

“But, you could?”

Shego scoffed. “Cupcake, come on. You know about the healing factor. Other than that, there’s been a lot of other shit going on with me, like not wanting to steal and work with assholes anymore. I feel a little… I dunno, mellowed by it or something.” She talked about the noticed affects that nearly being blown up had on her.

Kim nodded. Later on, as she got to know more about this new Shego, she pointed out some of the things she noticed that were still the same with Shego and some of the things that were different. Shego did seem the same, except she no longer shouted loudly that she was evil. If anything, she was just playfully obnoxious now, but still through her cantankerous personality, Kim ended up falling for her anyway.

Shego suspected she held something for Kim, even though it took her a few more meetings to realize she held affections for the redhead. It did explain why she had missed Kim so much when she was trying to leave behind her other life. She could drop everything from that life, but Kim. Over the years, she had just become comfortable with the hero and had grown to like her and that was why she reentered Kim’s life; or allowed Kim into her new life, she was not too sure how it went.

-*-(End of flashback)-*-

“So, you just showed up out of the blue into her life?” Bonnie asked.

“Pretty much. Before her, the only person I had contact with from my life was my mother. I just let everyone think I was dead, but soon I realized I was dead on the inside. I needed to be around Kim. She just energized me and made me want to do stuff,” Shego replied. Before meeting up with Kim after her “death,” she had not felt a need to do anything at all, except let her life waste away after she had been so lucky to escape that blast.

“So, when did you start trying to steal _my baby_ from me?” Bonnie inquired with a teasing smirk.

“I tried taking _my princess_ back a little while after we started meeting every week to spar and talk and everything,” Shego shot back.

“When did she start loving you back?” Bonnie asked in a low voice with an arched eyebrow. Maybe it was during a time when she was just not focusing on Kim as much as she usually would and the redhead had needed affection.

Shaking her head, Shego shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s not something that you really realize.”

Bonnie nodded in agreement with that. She had no clue when Kim started loving her either. Hell, she did not even know when Shego started loving her and that was recent compared to Kim.

The conversation was cut short as Kim returned to the living room. She sat back in between her lovers and she threw her arms around Bonnie. She pulled Bonnie to her and then she reclined onto Shego, who put her arms around Kim, but ended up resting hands on Bonnie. They relaxed as if it was a normal evening, but Bonnie and Shego would practically feel the tension in Kim’s body.

Bonnie knew Kim was burying her hurt feelings, as she had a habit of doing. Kim never wanted to seem like a bother, so she liked pretending that things were always fine, even when she needed emotional support. Bonnie had tried her best to let Kim know it was fine to be hurt around her, but Kim seemed to think it would just be wrong of her to act as such. Bonnie guessed it had something to do with Kim seeing herself as a superwoman of sorts that could do anything.

But, they stayed huddled up on the couch. Kim did not say anything. She held on, though. Bonnie casually rubbed Kim’s side.

They went to bed at their usual time. Shego thought everything might actually be all right, even though it was clear Kim was bothered by whatever it was her parents said to her. She considered Kim might just want to work through things on her own and she believed Kim would be able to do that if that was what she was trying to do.

-*-(Next day)-*-

Bonnie and Shego woke up, noticing there a space between them instead of the usual warm body. They looked at each other as they saw Kim was gone from the bed. They seemed to ask each other “where is she?” with their eyes and they shrugged as an answer. They got out of bed to see if they could find the redhead.

“Baby,” Bonnie called as she went to the doorway.

“Pumpkin,” Shego joined in.

They continued beckoning Kim with their pet names for her, but they did not get an answer. They discovered the redhead in the living room, sitting up on the sofa and staring at the blank television screen. They looked at each other and then turned their attention back to Kim.

“She’s cracked up,” Shego stage-whispered because Kim was not even blinking as she watched the off television.

“What in the hell did her parents say to her?” Bonnie wondered out loud because she had never seen Kim in such a state.

Shego approached Kim with Bonnie right behind her. She gave the redhead an experimental push, which got no reaction from the hero. Shego arched an eyebrow and pushed her harder, but Kim did not move in any way. Shego glanced over at Bonnie and the lawyer shrugged.

“Baby?” Bonnie said and she did not get a response, or anything that could be mistaken for a response. Kim did not even blink.

“She’s really cracked up,” Shego said, shaking her head. She could not close her mouth and she was certain her eyebrows would never uncurl. She was actually amazed someone had pretty much defeated Kim. And who would have thought that it was the hero’s own parents?

“Baby,” Bonnie repeated and she grabbed Kim in an embrace. The redhead did not react. It was like she was in a catatonic state.

Shego decided to join in and see if the double-hug would get Kim’s attention. They held her almost desperately, hoping their loving embrace would get their lover back to normal. The redhead glanced at both of them, but her eyes eventually settled back on the blank screen of the television. They let her go after a few minutes and sighed, both wondering what they were going to do about her.

“Let’s leave her alone for now. Maybe she’ll work her way out of it on her own,” Shego suggested, resisting the urge to glance back. She was not sure what to make of this and it unnerved her to the point where she wanted to go back and maybe study Kim… or whatever was appropriate for this sort of thing.

“You think that’s a good idea?” Bonnie asked with an arched eyebrow.

Snorting, Shego shook her head. “Not really, but it’s clear that we can’t do anything else for her right now. She’s not even responding to us. Let’s give her some space for now and then panic when that idea falls through.”

“I wish you wouldn’t joke like that,” the tanner female said.

“You worry too much, demon child.”

“I’ve got to worry. I’m dating you and Kim for crying out loud,” Bonnie pointed out. One of them had to be responsible and pragmatic and she felt like she was the best candidate for those things since she was the most normal anyway.

Shego conceded that point with a shrug. She supposed she worried so little because she knew Bonnie would handle the worrying for her. Kim was probably the same way, she considered. Besides, Kim could do anything. She would pull herself out of this.

The duo left Kim alone for the day. Bonnie did inform the dazed redhead that she left breakfast on the counter for her if she got hungry and she should call them if she needed anything. Kim did not even nod as her lovers left for work. Hours later, Bonnie and Shego returned home to see Kim was still in the same space on the couch and she had not touched the food that was left for her. Bonnie and Shego glanced at each other and shrugged. They were now officially out of ideas.

Kim did not move all day, even when her girlfriends returned home. She did not eat dinner when Bonnie called her and she did not pay Shego any mind when the former thief tried to force feed her. Shego gave up out of frustration and pulled Bonnie aside to talk about Kim’s condition.

“If she’s still like this tomorrow, we’re going to have to do something drastic,” Shego stated, speaking to Bonnie in the kitchen and in a low voice to make sure that their distressed lover did not hear. Of course, they doubted Kim even knew where she was anymore, so she probably had no idea they were even around.

“Drastic like what?” Bonnie asked curiously.

“Drastic like go see her parents. I mean, if they knew how badly they affected her from yesterday, I’m sure they’d try to make it right…right?” Shego replied, pacing the kitchen. Kim had good parents and she was pretty sure that if they saw what they did to her, they would try to make her feel better.

“Yeah, but do you think that she wants to see them?” Bonnie glanced at the doorway.

“She needs to see them, obviously.”

“You’re right,” Bonnie yielded, holding her arms over her stomach. “I guess there is a first time for everything.”

“Do you have to be an ass about everything?” Shego inquired with an attitude.

“I could ask you the same thing.”

Shego rolled her eyes. The pair had to put up with Kim acting very creepy for the rest of the night. She did not even come to bed with them and when they woke up, she was still on the sofa. The only good thing was that she was finally watching something on television rather than eyeing the blank screen. Well, anyway, the television was on, but the look in Kim’s olive eyes told them she was not watching it. It would have been a little disturbing if she were because Sesame Street was on the TV.

Shego and Bonnie silently agreed it was definitely time to get their love the help she needed. Bonnie got on the phone with the doctors Possible and inquired when they were free because she would like to talk with them about something immediately. She suspected they took that to mean she wanted to discuss Kim’s presumed infidelity because they urged her to come over as soon as she could.

“Come on, sweetie, we can go over there right now,” Bonnie informed Shego.

“No work?” Shego asked with her mouth gaping. Her disbelief was directed toward the lawyer not going to work.

“Helping Kimmie is way more important than going to work today,” the tanned woman insisted. It would be the first day that Bonnie ever missed work, but she felt that it was for a good cause.

The pair hustled out of the house, leaving Kim there on the sofa. Shego grabbed Bonnie’s keys on the way out, proclaiming she was driving. Bonnie decided not to argue because she did not think it was the time; it seemed like it was a day of firsts for her with that decision. She jumped into the passenger seat of her car while Shego hopped behind the wheel and they were off toward the Possible house.

The first couple of minutes of the twenty-minute trip were silent. Shego gripped the steering wheel with both hands, wringing it at stops. She glanced over at Bonnie a few times while the tanned female started out of the window. She was clearly a million miles away. Shego finally decided to ask a question that had been on her mind for a while.

“When did Kim tell her parents she was dating you?” the pale woman inquired.

“Well… she never really came right out and said it like you or I might do with our parents,” Bonnie answered.

“Well, how do they know she’s gay?”

“As far I know, they guessed,” Bonnie replied with a shrug and a laugh.

“They guessed?” the green-skinned female echoed in a puzzled tone. It was not a completely foreign concept to her, but she figured Kim would have had to say something eventually. Kim usually said things about herself, especially when they were out of what was considered the norm.

“When Kim started going out with me, she used to bring me to all her family gatherings, which I thought was very sweet. It was like she was offering her family to me, knowing my family is full of assholes and I can’t stand them. She wasn’t exactly out in front of her family, but she treated me like I was her girlfriend and her parents are smart, so they just figured it out,” the lawyer explained as best she could.

“It didn’t bother you that she didn’t just come right out and say that you were her girlfriend?”

“No, it didn’t. Just because she didn’t say it, didn’t mean she didn’t show it and she did show it. She didn’t shun me or anything around her parents or her brothers, who teased her relentlessly about the relationship. Hell, they still tease her about it whenever they get the chance. It was all very comfortable and normal. It was actually kind of nice that they never made a big deal about it. I mean, they wouldn’t make a big deal out of her dating a guy, so it was nice to be treated like this was nothing huge.”

Shego nodded. She could see how that was kind of nice, not to have things blown out of proportion. After all, Kim was “so not the drama” type. She could see Kim not saying anything about the relationship, especially if no one asked her about it. She supposed it was interesting that Kim would not say anything, but she would still treat Bonnie just the same. It would seem Bonnie being around worked wonders for Kim personally just like being with Kim worked wonders for Bonnie personally. Usually, Kim was very self-conscious and worried about what other people thought of her, but that seemed to slip her mind if she treated Bonnie the same no matter what back then.

“So, when did you start dating Kimmie anyway? I always thought she and Stoppable had something going on,” Shego commented, knowing Bonnie and Kim went to school together.

Bonnie laughed a little. “I always thought they had something going on, too. One of the many reasons I hated him, a lot and for a long time.”

Arching an eyebrow, the older woman glanced at Bonnie. “A long time?”

Sighing, Bonnie rubbed her hands together for no real reason. “Well, I think I’ve been a lesbian long before I even knew what one was. I think I’ve had a crush on Kim since I first saw her. It’s just that I didn’t know what it was and I also never knew how to treat someone I like, even if they were nice to me.” She was not totally sure how to explain her feelings with Kim that she was pretty sure had existed since the first grade.

-*-(Flashback)-*-

Six-year-old Bonnie knew she should close her mouth. Keeping it open like this was a good way to catch flies, her mother always said. But, then again, she was already beginning to suspect her mother did not know much considering she insisted Bonnie’s big sisters loved her, even when they stole her crayons, ate her ice cream, and hid her ballet slippers. But, none of that mattered.

Right now, little Bonnie had never seen anything like it and it was just amazing. There was a redheaded girl on the jungle gym, at the top and doing a handstand straight up in the air without any problem at all, not even looking like she might fall or like she was scared. It was from that moment on she knew that girl was special and she wanted to be friends. She wanted to be friends with Kim Possible.

She was in the same class as Kim and had already noticed the redheaded girl was very smart, which she thought was cool. She felt like she could ask Kim questions and Kim would probably never be wrong like her mother was. Kim had also been very kind to her on several occasions, offering to share snacks with her at lunch and trading sandwiches with her. Also, whenever they were at the same worktable, Kim never took her pencils and always shared her big box of crayons. It was great, but in Bonnie’s warped opinion back then, they were not friends and she wanted to be friends.

She wanted to be friends with Kim like that weird kid Ron Stoppable was. She did not understand why Kim hung around Ron instead of hanging out with her. She thought Ron was always doing something stupid and he even had an imaginary friend, which made her just think that he was even more of a loser. Her siblings made sure she understood that imaginary friends were for babies and anyone who acted like a baby was a loser. She lashed out at him, not knowing at the time that jealousy was one of the main reasons she acted in such a way.

But, lashing out at Ron got her something she wanted desperately. Kim paid attention to her. If she said or did something mean to Ron, Kim would notice and say something to her, which pleased her. Any attention from the redhead was desirable as far as Bonnie was concerned, even if it was negative and angry attention.

Negative attention, not that she knew it was called that at the time, was something Bonnie clung to like a security blanket because it meant she was being noticed. Bonnie had grown up on negative attention anyway from people she admired, namely her older siblings. If they were not mean to her, then they did not know she was alive. Kim being upset with her meant Kim knew she was alive, Kim knew she was there. It was something she could identify with.

As time went by, she figured out how to get even more attention from Kim and that was to do something to Kim personally instead of going through Ron. It started out like she was a little boy with a crush, hitting Kim with kick-balls and things. It got her attention and she loved it, not realizing she got Kim to quickly hate her rather than like her as she had hoped. She would not have understood that anyway back then because her siblings acted the same toward her and she still looked up to them at the time. To her, hate equaled love.

Soon, being mean to Kim became a part of her daily routine. It was normal and she even forgot when she was acting that way in her conscious mind. She just acted snotty toward Kim throughout their history together. As she got older, she started noticing some dull pain that ached just underneath everything when Kim walked away angry with her or when a hurt looked showed up in those olive eyes because of her, but she tried not to pay too much attention to it. She just told herself Kim deserved everything she did to her, but she could not remember why that was. It was just a habit.

Every now and then, the old feelings she had for Kim showed up, trying to remind her Kim was amazing and she wanted to be the redhead’s friend in someway, but it would come up just like when she was in the first grade. She would see Kim with a boy and get jealous of the boy being with Kim. She would become single-minded in her thinking and get the boy away from Kim in any way possible, be it by telling a lie or doing everything in her power to steal the boy from Kim, which was how she came to date Brick Flagg in their junior year. She did not even like Brick, was not attracted to him in any way, shape, or form, but being with her kept him away from Kim and that was all that mattered.

It was a good thing Kim had gotten over her crush on Josh because Bonnie certainly would have tried to steal him from her, too, despite the fact that she was with Brick at the time. If Kim had had just a little more of a social life, Bonnie probably would have burnt herself out trying to keep guys away from the hero. She also would have had more boyfriends than she knew what to do with.

And then came the prom, where everything came back to her because of one dreadful moment. She remembered her feelings for Kim when she saw the redhead kiss that idiot Stoppable. She realized she had always wanted that to be her. She had only wanted the redhead’s affections and, yet, throughout their student careers, she had been nothing but a bitch to Kim and probably blew it all because she was so emotionally screwed up and immature. Knowing such a thing was like being split open and having all of her major organs torn out while she was still alive. She ran out of the gym, crying to herself, certain she had lost the only person that she ever loved.

She was miserable most of her senior year, having to watch someone she perceived to be a complete idiot that got to be with someone he was totally unworthy of. What would an idiot do with a goddess, after all, she always wondered. She was willing to bet he would blow it all and lose Kim, but that had not happened senior year.

Bonnie was glad when high school was over. She did not have to worry about looking at Kim with Ron anymore and she did not have to put up with her family anymore. She was going as far away from both as physically possible while remaining in the country. Bonnie went to school in Hawaii.

Hawaii was beautiful, but she hardly noticed. She was more miserable there than in Middleton. It would seem being able to see Kim was better than not seeing the redhead, even if she had to see the redhead with Ron. She ended up transferring, working her grades up as best she could to go to get into Kim’s school. It worked.

Once she got into the school though, she got nervous. How was she supposed to approach Kim? How would she explain her sudden appearance? What the hell did she think she was doing in the first place since she already knew that not only was Kim straight, but in a relationship with Ron? She did not know, but she got offered up an excuse and she ran with it. Early in the spring semester, she knocked on Kim’s dorm room, which the hero opened without bothering to ask who was there or anything.

“Bonnie?” Kim gasped in total surprise when she saw who was standing in front of her.

“Hi… I hear you’re the person to see if someone needs math tutoring,” Bonnie said kind of lamely with an awkward smile as she held up her math textbook. Her stomach did enough flips to put a gymnast to shame and part of her was mortified to release she wanted very much to throw up right now.

“Since when do you go here? I thought you went to Hawaii for school,” Kim commented with her face all knotted up in confusion.

“I transferred.” She wanted to laugh, smile, hell, even cry, but Kim seemed so bothered and tense just by her presence alone it took every shred of willpower she had just to remain standing in the hallway.

“Why would you transfer here?” the redhead inquired, trying to maintain her cool. She had thought she was rid of Bonnie forever, but now she had to find out she had four more years with the evil female. If there was any sort of divine being, it clearly hated Kim.

“Um… they have a good dance program…” Bonnie offered, just as lamely as before, even though she was a dance major at the time. It was not like she could just come out and say she transferred to be close to Kim. It was doubtful Kim would believe such a thing.

Kim snorted in anger, but did not show she was vexed in any other way. “Fine, what do you want?”

“Math tutoring,” Bonnie repeated, showing the book once more.

“Are you serious?” the hero inquired because the last time she checked, academics did not mean enough to Bonnie for her to go out and get tutoring for anything.

This time, Bonnie forced out a smile. “Yeah.” Her voice cracked.

Kim sighed. “Fine.”

And so, Kim tutored Bonnie in math while silently noting how odd Bonnie seemed. It was like the usually arrogant teen was now humble, damn near demure, and she could not figure out why. Bonnie was just happy to be near Kim and she tried her best just to appreciate that without blowing anything more so than she already had. She might have ruined any chance for them to be friends or something more, but at least she could be next to Kim.

Each time Bonnie sat with Kim, her stomach twisted, but she did not mind. She rubbed her palms together a lot because her hands got clammy and if she did not rub her hands, then she would fidget with her fingers. She hardly talked, too scared that she might say something bitchy out of habit.

At first, Kim was apprehensive around Bonnie, just waiting for the bitch in her to come out and start things, but that never happened. She eventually noticed how melancholic Bonnie always looked, even though the tutoring was going well. She sometimes asked if something was wrong, but Bonnie would try to assure her that she was fine. Part of Bonnie was flattered Kim was concerned about her.

Kim noticed other odd things about Bonnie that first semester, like how she did not flirt with a bunch of guys or even go out to a lot of parties. Bonnie did not even leave school for spring break. When everyone else was packing up to go home for the summer, Kim noticed Bonnie did not move a thing. Bonnie had decided to take summer courses instead of going home. As Kim stood in Bonnie’s dorm, looking around at everything in place as if there were classes tomorrow when in reality the term had finished days ago, she had to ask.

“Are you going to be all right on your own?” Kim asked curiously, a concerned look in her eyes. She was worried about Bonnie. Bonnie had been acting like the opposite of what she remembered for the whole semester, so it was a little unnerving.

“I’ll be fine. I should be able to handle classes without you holding my hand through it. It’s not math or anything,” Bonnie replied with a small smile. She sat on her bed, textbooks out and open.

“Okay. Well, see you when I get back, I guess,” Kim said.

Bonnie only smiled. It turned out, even though she understood on so many levels, so many people would think this was sad, this was probably the happiest she had ever been in her life. Kim did not hate her. Kim was concerned for her. But, most of all, Kim wanted to see her when Kim came back. It was enough.

The hero went beyond keeping her word. She actually went back to school earlier to hang out with her, which Bonnie was very flattered by. The blue-eyed female looked overjoyed when Kim showed up, which the redhead took note of. She could not help wondering why Bonnie was so happy to be around her, but she was glad she could perk the brunette up.

They went out drinking one night before fall classes began. Nothing happened, except they had a really good time together. They were both hit on by a number of guys, but rebuffed all of them. Bonnie assumed Kim had brushed off the advances because of Ron while Kim could not figure out why Bonnie had done such a thing. But, it did not stay a mystery.

During the winter break, Kim noticed Bonnie intended to stay at school yet again. Kim did not think that was right and asked why Bonnie was not going home for Christmas. Surely, her family would want her to be home for the holiday.

“It is a huge family thing, right?” Kim said, referring to Christmas. She sat at Bonnie’s desk, tapping one of Bonnie’s many textbooks.

“I don’t want to go home,” Bonnie informed the redhead as if it was nothing to say. It was just the truth. She was away from her family and she wanted things to stay that way. She was somewhat happy for the first time in a long time and she was not about to bring her own mood down by returning home to deal with those peons. She finally understood they were poison and she refused to let them seep into her any further.

“Well, why not?” Kim asked with a furrowed brow.

Bonnie shrugged and began picking up the books littering her room. “I just don’t want to deal with my family. I mean, you’ve met my sisters and my mother. I don’t want to deal with them. I don’t want to have to deal with my brothers or my father either. It’s easier on me to just be here.”

Kim nodded a bit, but her eyes remained concerned. “But, no one should be alone for Christmas. How about you come to my house?” She made the offer so easily, like it was nothing.

Bonnie actually gasped and paused, feeling a ping in her chest. “Are you sure?” she asked. She was not even sure that she heard right.

“Yeah, come on. The more the merrier,” the redhead declared with a warm, welcoming smile.

“Um…okay,” Bonnie accepted in a rather shy voice. She was too scared to even look at Kim, so went back to straightening up her room. She could not believe she had the chance to spend Christmas under the same roof as the woman she secretly loved.

Christmas with the Possibles was wonderful as far as Bonnie was concerned. It was then she learned that Kim and Ron were no longer together. They had just decided they were better as friends than as a couple. They were so used to being friends they just could not work out as a couple because of some of the things they said to each other and some of the things they continued to do around each other; they were just things one did when around a friend and not a mate.

Bonnie knew she should not feel happy at the news, but she was only human dammit. It did not help that she had fallen more in love with Kim over the course of the school year. Kim treated her so well, like she had back when they were in first grade. It was like all of the bad blood between them never existed. It was amazing, just like Kim.

Bonnie was invited to stay the whole winter break if she wanted and she took the Possibles up on that offer. It was not like she had anything better to do and she could not help wanting to soak up all of their positive energy and just natural goodness. And, of course, she got to be around Kim.

She went out partying with Kim and Ron, who was home for the winter break too, on New Year’s Eve and got to bring in the New Year with Possible family. It was the best New Year’s Bonnie had ever had and it was that stay with the Possible family that helped her decide she had to go for what she wanted because they all believed they could do anything and she did not see why she could not be the same way.

“Kim, you asleep?” Bonnie asked in a whisper from her space on the floor in Kim’s room. She rested on top of two sleeping bags and had a thick blanket covering her body to keep the cold away. While the Possibles had a guest room and, of course had offered it, Bonnie preferred this little nest on Kim’s floor. She felt warm and safe, which she had never experience before this trip.

“No,” Kim answered, turning over in her bed.

Bonnie sat up then, which her host noticed despite the room being cloaked in darkness. “Do you mind if I give you a late Christmas gift?”

“A Christmas gift?” A red eyebrow arched. She did not see why the tanned female would want to give her a Christmas present.

“Yeah. I mean, it was nice of you to invite me out and everything and I want to thank you for it. Is that all right?”

“Yeah, I guess.” The hero did not see the harm in such a thing.

Bonnie got up from her bed and approached Kim’s bed. The redhead was a little curious as to what Bonnie might have gotten her for Christmas and then she utterly shocked when she felt Bonnie’s lips gently touching her. The kiss was not long at all, maybe a couple of seconds, and it was not even the shocking moment of the night.

“I love you,” Bonnie confessed as clear as day.

“Whoa, wait a minute, slow down. Since when?” Kim asked, waving her arms up and down.

Bonnie gave her a soft smile. “Since always. I know I’ve been an ass toward you forever, but oh, god, it’s just that I didn’t know what else to do. I wanted your attention and I’d take it in any way it came, but I love you and I know you hate me now, but I just needed to tell you. And you don’t have to say anything back or anything like that, but thanks for all of this,” she stated firmly and it felt good to get all of that off of her chest. Her stomach finally loosened up and it was like she could breathe again. She was so glad she told Kim.

“Um… Bonnie…” Kim was tongue-tied for a number of reasons. She never suspected Bonnie even liked her, let alone loved her. She had always assumed Bonnie hated her and was very straight. Hell, Bonnie always chased the same guys she did or any ones showed an interest in her.

“You don’t have to say anything and if you want me to leave… I will,” the tanned teen said. She sounded so earnest in her speaking and sure of herself that it was disarming and perplexing.

Kim thought about things for a moment, her eyebrows bent in. “You don’t have to leave. You were invited for winter break and you can stay for winter break. I just don’t know what to say.”

“Um… well, if you’re going to think on anything, um, I was hoping you’d consider letting me take you on a date,” Bonnie said awkwardly with a one-shoulder shrug and then she realized how rushed that must see and how she put Kim on the spot. “But, you don’t have to decide right now. Take as much time as you need,” Bonnie added, holding her hands up.

Kim nodded and then Bonnie went back to her makeshift bed. The redhead stayed up the whole night, thinking, considering Bonnie’s behavior since college began and the fact Bonnie claimed to love her. It did not seem to make any sense. It seemed contrary to everything life taught her about Bonnie. She considered it might be a trick of some kind. She bet Bonnie was waiting for her to accept and then she would have to listen for the rest of her college career about how she was a homosexual from Bonnie. Well, to hell with that.

No, Kim had not accepted the first offer, but she noticed Bonnie still hung around her. She noticed the look in Bonnie’s eyes, like a longing that came into those turquoise orbs when they rested on her. Maybe Bonnie really did love her, Kim started to think. It was such an odd idea she could not accept it as a serious possibility until the spring semester was over and Bonnie was still acting the same, looking at her the same. She figured she might have to live with the humiliation of being tricked by Bonnie to just to find out the truth, so she accepted the date five months after it was offered. She had been so surprised when Bonnie’s eyes lit up with an indescribable joy and that told her what the truth was. Bonnie actually loved her.

-*-(End of the flashback)-*-

The car came to a halt as Shego and Bonnie pulled up to the Possible residence. They looked at each other before getting out of the car. They did not say anything, but they both realized they did not have a plan for going to speak with the doctors. They did not even know what they were going to open with, but they knocked on the door nonetheless.

“Who is it?” Mrs. Possible called.

“It’s Bonnie,” came the answer and the door was opened a few seconds to reveal the neurosurgeon. “Hey, Mrs. Possible,” Bonnie greeted the doctor with a smile.

“It’s good to see you, Bonnie,” Mrs. Possible said and then she turned her attention to the woman with Bonnie and looked rather curious, along with slightly confused. “I heard you were dead,” she said, obviously recognizing Shego immediately, and managing to keep her cool about the situation.

“Yeah, it’s hard as hell to make that true,” Shego replied with a nonchalant shrug with a bit of a smirk.

“Bonnie, what are you doing with her?” Mrs. Possible asked in a concerned tone, folding her arms across her chest as she stared Shego down. It was clear she thought the worst already. Perhaps Shego had kidnapped Bonnie and planned to use her against Kim, the neurosurgeon considered.

“No, no, no,” Bonnie said, shaking her head. “It’s not what you think. Shego’s all right now. She’s not a threat. She’s not a bad guy or anything and we both just want to talk to you and your husband about Kim.”

“Why? Did she do something to Kim?” Mrs. Possible inquired, narrowing her gaze as she pointed an accusing finger at Shego.

“You don’t know the half of it,” Shego muttered, rolling her eyes.

“She didn’t do anything to Kim,” Bonnie tried to assure the surgeon. “Can we just come in and talk for a while? Please?” She pressed her hands together.

“You’d better not try anything,” Mrs. Possible said to Shego with her finger still pointed at the former thief.

“I’ll be on my very best behavior,” the pale woman promised, holding up one hand.

“Yeah, that’s not saying much,” Bonnie remarked under her breath.

Shego glanced at Bonnie, but she did not say anything. They entered the house and Mrs. Possible invited them into the living room to talk. She then went to get her husband and they joined the ladies, sitting on opposite ends of the sofa. Bonnie and Shego then looked at each other, trying to figure out which one of them should open the discussion.

“Okay, I guess the first thing I should try to assure you of is that Kim isn’t cheating on me,” Bonnie stated just to get it out in the open.

“Bonnie,” Mrs. Possible started to say, but the lawyer held her hand up to stop her.

“Just trust me on this one. She’s not cheating on me. I’m not in denial or anything like that. She’s really not cheating on me. She’d never do anything like that. I know you had a friend who saw her in the school and everything, but she’s really, really not cheating on me,” the tanned female said firmly.

“Is this what you wanted to talk about?” Mr. Possible inquired, leaning in a bit.

“Well, yes. I mean, I know you called her and you chewed her out good, thinking she was, but she isn’t,” Bonnie replied.

“Then how do you explain what happened in the school?” Mrs. Possible asked, lips pursed and eyes on Shego again.

Bonnie glanced at Shego, who shrugged. Was it their place to tell Kim’s parents just what their friend saw? To explain exactly what was going on? They decided it was not their place. They had both gotten to break the news to their own parents. Kim should have the same opportunity. They would just have to push her into a corner to make her do that it seemed.

“You have to ask Kim that,” Shego answered in a smaller voice than she meant to.

“You can come see her now,” Bonnie added in. The sooner the better in her opinion and her pale lover was inclined to agree.

“Yeah, she’s probably still on the couch watching Sesame Street and going rapidly out of her mind,” the former villainess remarked.

“What do you mean by that?” the rocket scientist asked.

“Come to the house and you’ll see,” Shego replied.

“You talk like you live there,” Mrs. Possible commented.

Shego did not respond, but Bonnie just glossed over it and urged the doctors to come to the house. They agreed because they wanted to get down to the bottom of things. They wanted to know just what Kim thought she was doing cheating on Bonnie, as if they had not raised her to be honest, loyal, and true, especially to someone as loving as Bonnie was to her. They were so disappointed in Kim and they had told her as much in that phone call two days ago.

-8-8-8-8-

Kim was still on the sofa when she heard the front door open. She had her head down now, resting her face in her hands, as if she would cry any second now, or maybe they had just missed her crying. She did not move from that position, even when she heard the door. She could not believe the things her parents had said to her over the phone, how low they must have thought she was. They probably would never look at her the same way again. She would be shocked if they even still loved her.

“Baby, you in here?” Bonnie called as she entered with her lover and the doctors Possible.

“Did you at least take a shower?” Shego added, which earned her a light slap on the shoulder. “What?” she asked Bonnie, glaring at the lawyer.

Bonnie glared right back. “She’s having a bad day.”

“Does that mean she doesn’t have to shower anymore?”

Bonnie practically snarled at her green-skinned girlfriend. Shego rolled her eyes as they hit the living room to find Kim right where they left her, and not bathed much to Shego’s horror. She did not even bother to glance in their direction.

“Kimmie, we brought some people you might want to talk to,” Bonnie informed the redhead.

“Kimmie-cub,” Mr. Possible said as he and his wife stepped into view.

Kim turned in disbelief, giving everyone a good look at her face. It was obviously she had not slept in a couple of days. Her eyes had dark circles around them and they were bloodshot. Her face had no color in it at all.

“Mom, Dad, what are you doing here?” she asked when she caught sight of her parents. Her voice was shot, groggy and scratchy.

“They’re here to talk. You should clear up what happened,” Bonnie said.

Kim sighed and she nodded. She supposed she should make it clear as to what happened. She was the only one in the trio that had not told her parents and she did not want her girlfriends to think she was ashamed of what they were doing. She did hold the fear her parents, though open-minded, would not understand. And, after that phone conversation, all she could think about was disappointing them again, maybe even more so, having them be shamed to call her their child, and them disowning her. Still, she had to say something.

“You’re right,” Kim agreed with the lawyer.

“Come on,” Bonnie said to Shego while pulling the older woman away from the living room.

“What? I want to see,” Shego said honestly.

“It’s not for you to see, so come on,” Bonnie repeated and she pulled the older female away from the family. Sometimes, she thought Shego really did not have any home training at all.

Kim stood up and looked at her parents, who looked at her. She wondered where she should begin, but her parents beat her to it. They were curious about something.

“What’s Shego doing hanging out with you and Bonnie?” Mrs. Possible inquired with her arms folded across her chest. She glanced off in the direction Bonnie had just yanked Shego.

“It’s all added in to what’s going on and to what Doctor Wong saw,” Kim answered in a lower voice than usual. She was exhausted and that was clear from the sound of her voice, but she would make it through the explanation, she silently promised herself.

“What’s she doing alive in the first place? Didn’t you say she died?” Mr. Possible asked, his voice almost harsh. Had their daughter lied to them on top of everything else? He could not believe some of the things that Kim was pulling now if she had lied.

“I did, but she didn’t. It turns out she prefers people thinking that she’s dead. She came close to dying, though, and it made her think about a lot of things in her life. She’s still rough around the edges, but she’s doing good for herself. She’s the other teacher at the school,” Kim replied with a bit a smile. She smiled because as she thought about Shego teaching, she thought about how much Shego seemed to enjoy it and she thought the emerald-eyed woman might have found her calling in life.

“She’s the teacher you work with?” the doctors inquired incredulously. What the hell else had Kim neglected to tell them?

“Not just work with, but she’s the woman Doctor Wong saw me with,” Kim added in since it seemed like as good as any place to tell them that.

“What the? You’re cheating on Bonnie with that woman?” her mother demanded while motioning sharply to the living room entrance since that was where Shego had exited from.

“I’m not cheating on Bonnie,” Kim argued, throwing her hands up.

“You just admitted that you were kissing Shego,” her father pointed out, stomping his foot. “We raised you better than this,” he stated firmly, wagging his finger at her. He was about to go into the same tirade he and his wife used to tear Kim down the last time they all spoke.

“Yeah, you have. I wasn’t cheating,” the daughter stated.

“You were. This is horrible, Kimmie. All of the good things that Bonnie’s done for you and you two seemed so in love and you do this. You could’ve ruined your relationship and just think about how badly Bonnie would feel,” Mrs. Possible practically barked.

“I know that!” Kim huffed. They were not letting her talk in her opinion.

“Then why were you with Shego?” her parents inquired, nearly yelling themselves.

“Because she’s my girlfriend!” Kim declared, pointing to herself with all of her fingers. “She’s my girlfriend!”

The doctors literally gasped aloud as their mouths dropped open. Shego was Kim’s girlfriend? But, what about Bonnie? They could have sworn that their daughter was in a relationship with Bonnie and had been for years. What the hell was going on?

“Kimmie, you’re not making any sense,” the neurosurgeon stated, resting her chin in one hand while keeping her arms folded across her chest.

“I’m making perfect sense if you just listen to me. Shego’s my girlfriend and I wasn’t cheating on Bonnie because she’s Bonnie’s girlfriend, too. We’re all in a relationship, all three of us,” Kim informed her parents, which seemed to totally confuse them now.

“How are all of you in a relationship?” Mr. Possible managed to ask, his forehead completely furrowed. He squinted as if that would help make things clearer.

“We’re all girlfriends. We all love each other,” the hero replied.

“How are all of you in love?” Mrs. Possible inquired.

“Just like two people can be in love, the three of us are in love. We’re all in relationship together and it’s going rather well. I mean, we’ve been together a while now and, yeah, we’ve had a couple of spats here and there, but we’re all happy and that’s how I’m not cheating on Bonnie,” Kim explained in a huff.

Her parents did not know what to say. They were not totally sure they understood. They always thought they were fairly open-minded. They could accept Kim was a lesbian, just like they could accept her being a hero when she was hardly in ninth grade. She had to choose her own destiny. But, they had not thought her destiny had anything to do with homosexual polygamy.

“Kimmie…” they both started to say and they stopped at the same time. They looked at each other as if they both knew the next words they spoke might lose them their daughter forever. They had to be careful. It was not like they hated Kim or anything for her lifestyle, but they truly were not sure how to handle it.

“This is a lot to process,” Mr. Possible decided to say before taking a deep breath.

Kim nodded because she did not know what else to do and it was a lot to process. Her parents then turned to leave the house. They walked out without so much another word and Kim watched them pull off in the car.

“They’re not coming back,” Kim commented as her girlfriends stood behind her and she closed the door. She looked ready to burst into tears. She could hardly believe her parents had just walked out on her.

“Not anytime soon anyway,” Shego replied and that earned her another slap; in the face that time. “Ah! Damn it, demon child, you want me to kick your ass, is that?” she huffed; Bonnie was the one that hit her.

“Do you have no fucking compassion at all?” Bonnie demanded, glaring at the plasma-wielder.

“What the hell are you talking about? I meant they would come back sometime in the future. They’re not just going to leave her hanging. I mean, shit, if my mother can handle this, then they’ll be able to handle it, too, since my mother’s an insufferable cow, but you just have to give them some time,” Shego explained herself, which shocked both of her girls. She then went in for a hug to help Kim feel better and Bonnie followed her lead.

“Don’t worry, baby. Shego’s right. They’ll come back and until then, you’ll have us,” Bonnie said, holding Kim as tightly and adoringly as she could.

“Yeah, we’ll always be here for you, Princess,” Shego stated, nuzzling Kim’s hair.

Kim nodded and then she did something that she probably would only do in front of them, she cried. She sobbed like there was no tomorrow and they held her, tightly and securely. They would be there for and they would assure her that her parents would come back because they believed the Possibles would come back.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Shego’s birthday and more fallout with the Possibles.


	6. Sugary Filling, part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. Disney does. I don’t own iPods neither.
> 
> Shout-outs to the Humbug, Silver Snow Wolf, and Chibi-Izzum for their ideas that appear in this chapter and/or the next chapter. Thanks guys. This extends into next chapter because it’s part two of what used to be very long chapter. That’s right, the chapter ran long, so I cut it in half.
> 
> The usual warning about typos still applies. Also, there’s some sexual situations in this chapter.

6: Sugary Filling, part 1

Kim was in the mall. She had shown up with Bonnie not too long ago, but they had split as soon as they went in. They would meet up in an hour to compare and contrast items. She figured it was a good time to do something she had been dying to do for the past few days, but knew her lovers would not approve of it. She ducked behind a pillar, as if she were hiding, which she really was because she did not want to chance Bonnie seeing her. Once she was certain she was out of sight, she pulled out her Kimmunicator, which doubled as her phone of course.

She planned to call her parents. She just wanted to talk to them, to try to explain to them again what was going on in her life, and hopefully fix things between them. She just wanted them to accept her and her loves. It was not like her relationship with Bonnie and Shego was anything wrong logically speaking. They were consenting adults and they all had deep feelings for each other. They all loved each other openly; it was not like they were cheating or sneaking around or anything of the sort. They were all fine with the relationship, so she did not see why her parents could not be fine with it. It was not like they were going to do anything offensive when other people were around; well, Shego might say some offensive things if they were all around each other at a gathering or something, but that was just how she was.

She silently prayed her parents had had enough time to think things over and to see there was nothing logically wrong with her relationship. She actually did not see anything wrong with it morally speaking either since they were all be honest with each other. Her parents were smart people and they knew she would never knowingly do something wrong. Surely, they would understand now that they had time to think about things, she convinced herself. And so, she called them. 

“Hello?”

Her heart jumped in her chest when someone answered. Yes, surely they understood now. _I knew it!_

“Hi, Mom,” Kim said in a small voice when her mother answered the phone. She spoke low for two reasons – one being the fact that she did not want to attract attention to herself and two being she felt insignificant talking to her parents now and it showed in her voice.

“Kimmie,” her mother replied in a rather clipped tone, which only hurt Kim’s feelings more so than her parents had already done. It would seem that enough time had not passed.

“Um…” She did not know what to say now. Was there anything to say now?

“Hold on, for a moment,” her mother said since Kim hesitated in speaking.

Kim could vaguely make out her mother speaking with her father in the background. The next thing she knew, both of her parents were on the phone. She could only hope her brothers were not around while the conversation was about to happen; it was doubtful that the twins were around since they did not make it a point to be home often, loving college life now. But, she did not want their opinions of her to lower like her parents’ had.

“Kimmie, are you calling to tell us that you’ve finally straightened up and you’re going to get out of that crazy thing you were involved in?” her father inquired in a hopeful tone. He knew she would quickly see the error of her ways. Three people being involved in a romantic relationship was just wrong and could not work, would never work. Relationships were supposed to be between two people. He actually thought the best relationships were between men and women, but he would accept two women if they made each other happy.

“Crazy thing?” Kim echoed in a very puzzled tone, twisting up her mouth. Was he referring to her relationship? He could not be because her relationship was far from crazy and it was not a “thing.” Those were the women who she loved with all her heart and soul, after all. She already considered she made a mistake in calling her parents only days after they walked out on her. _They probably need more time_ , she told herself. _Hell, maybe I need more time_.

“If that’s the case, you probably need a place to stay,” her mother chimed in.

“Wait, what?” Kim inquired, still sounding rather perplexed with the conversation. It would seem they just assumed she had gotten “out of that crazy thing” that she was involved in and they obviously had plans for her now that they thought she was single. _Do they think my relationship would fail so easily?_ Well, the answer was obvious. Thinking about it made her throat tight, though.

“You can come home,” her father continued on.

“Wait a second, I’m not coming home.” She blinked and felt just a little insulted. “I’m still with Bonnie and Shego and I’m going to stay with them. I love them. I just want you to accept that,” she basically pled to them.

Her parents were usually so open-minded and understanding, and on the weirdest things. She hoped that particular parenting skill had finally kicked back into their minds and they would understand she was in love with two great women. _But, this is why I don’t hope. I’d rather_ do _something about things, but I can’t exactly do anything about them_.

The doctors were silent for a very brief moment, almost as if they were just trying to figure out who would break the news to her. And then her father spoke up, which Kim knew was not a good thing just one word in. 

“Kimmie-cub, your mother and I have spent a lot of time thinking and talking this one out with each other. We love you very much, but we cannot accept you being a part of something so… wrong…” he reported in a slightly reluctant tone. He got no joy in cutting his daughter off, after all, but she needed to get her act together.

Kim cringed at the word “wrong.” What was “wrong” with her being in love? What was “wrong” with her being with two women who loved her just as much as she loved them and they were all in agreement on what was going on between them? They were not cheating or sneaking around. They were open and honest with each other. What was “wrong” with that?

“…And we’re really sorry to tell you, but as long as you continue to carry on like this… We just can’t be there for you,” he finished.

Kim gasped as if she had been shot by a .357 magnum. Her body trembled. _What?_ Maybe she heard wrong. “What?” she managed to choke the word from her throat. It was all she could manage.

“We just can’t condone such deviant behavior. It’s borderline depraved,” he answered in a much stronger voice, showing that was his entire stance on the matter. To him, that one was fact.

“Depraved?” she whispered because it seemed that most of her voice had abandoned her, along with most of her ability to form whole sentences. “How can you… how can you…” she could not get the question out. It just got stuck in her throat, which burned like she swallowed acid, and then drained away with any pleasant feeling she had before making her phone call.

“We’re truly sorry about this, Kimmie, but at some point, you have to grow up and you have to recognize when you make a mistake,” her father said.

Kim’s mind and body gave out. She fell back against the wall and dropped the Kimmunicator to the floor. The communication was over anyway because her father disconnected the moment she dropped the device. She began weeping, silent streams of hot, aggravated, and agonized tears. When her body recalled that it could makes noises minutes later, she just put her hand over her mouth and kept on crying. And she did that for almost ten minutes.

She checked her watch and that was what got her back on track. _Now is not the time to wallow in my own sorrow, no matter how deep and biting it is_ , she told herself. She had more important things to do and she had to meet up with Bonnie in about a half-hour. That only gave her thirty minutes to complete her mission. She pushed off the pillar, went to the mall rest room to clean her face, sucked up everything she felt, put in a little box in her brain, and proceeded to doing what she was supposed to do.

-8-8-8-8-

Bonnie smiled as she approached Kim, who was smiled in return when she noticed her tanned lover coming toward her. Bonnie carried a couple of bags and Kim had the same, which happened to be the reason that they both smiled. It would seem it was a “mission accomplished” for both of them. The pair stood before each other looking rather proud of themselves and each other. It felt good to have one success under their belt, like it was good omen. 

“How’d it go, baby? What did you get?” Bonnie inquired with some enthusiasm in her voice. She tried to control herself, but she was rather excited over everything, almost bouncing on her heels.

“I think it went pretty fine. I’m broke now, though,” Kim answered with a grin and a heartfelt laugh. She did not even care that she did not have any money left. She never had much to work with anyway.

“What did you get?” Bonnie asked curiously because of her redheaded girlfriend’s sudden bankruptcy.

“I got her some speakers for her iPod and a little device that would allow her to play her iPod through the radio.”

Bonnie let out an overly dramatic groan. “Great now we all get to suffer her horrible taste in music.”

Kim chuckled a bit. “I also got her a huge box set of classic monster movies. Some of them good, some of them bad, but she likes them all.”

Bonnie nodded in agreement. “That she does. Those are good. Anything else?”

“Oh, yeah. I got her some new hand and feet pads for sparring. She wore her other ones out.”

Scoffing, Bonnie couldn’t help shaking her head. “She goes through those damn things faster than you do and I never thought someone could wear something out quicker than you do.”

Kim smiled a bit. “Ah, but you love me for it.”

Bonnie smiled back. “You know I do.”

The hero blushed somewhat and puffed out her chest, feeling a little good at the admission, even though she already knew it was true. “So, that’s what I got. What about you?” she asked in an eager tone because she was just as excited as Bonnie was.

“I brought her a new pair of silk pajamas, even though I doubt she’ll ever wear them. I brought her a slick, little black dress in case we all ever go out some place nice. It is going to look so gorgeous on her. I also got her a cute little locket, shaped in a heart. It’s got a picture of all of us in it. And for a practical gift, I got her a new pair of sneakers to wear out when we go jogging,” Bonnie answered, still smiling and speaking in a bit of a hurry because of her happiness.

“Oh, I’m guessing I can expect a new pair of sneakers for my birthday, too, then,” the adventurer remarked with a bit of a laugh.

“No, I’m not waiting that long for you. I’m buying you a new pair next week because those damn things you have are hanging on by a hope and a prayer and nothing more. You might as well go out running in bare feet,” the lawyer quipped with a shake of her head. “It’s almost embarrassing.”

Kim scoffed and put her nose in the air. “I like my sneakers. They’re comfortable.” 

“Yeah, well, I had to stop Shego from throwing them out not too long ago. The tongue ripped on one of them when she held it up.” 

“Like I said, I like my sneakers, so both of you better leave ‘em alone. So, how are you going to do everything you want to do tomorrow?” Kim asked with an arched eyebrow. 

“Well, since Shego has that meeting with GJ to make sure everything is still going good with her, I should be able to do it then. Are you going to get the final gift?”

“You know I will. This is going to be great,” Kim declared with a grin, clapping her hands together.

Bonnie laughed a bit; she was glad that she was not the only one so hyped up about tomorrow. She also thought it was cute that Kim could hardly contain herself about everything. She really could not wait for tomorrow either. It would be spectacular.

-*-(Next day)-*-

Shego sighed as she made her way downstairs in the silent house, just to look around. She hated the day and she was always going to hate it. She liked it best when she could just ignore it, which was how life had been since she struck out on her own in life, even though her mother still called her. But, she could easily get back her mother since Isabel was twenty years older than she was, so whenever her mother called her to remind her of her age, she just reminded Isabel of hers in return. It actually made the day better when she could shut her mother up about how old she was.

Her father called her, too, but she did not mind him as much as her mother. Maybe because he just wished her a happy birthday and then moved on with his life, letting her move on with hers. The twins did the same. So, it was easy for her to ignore the day after they got the calls out of the way.

She had a sinking feeling she would not be able to ignore the day because of her two lovers. She knew they were up to something for the simple fact that when she woke up that morning, she was alone in the bed. She did not take that as a good sign and there were more signs of dread that she noticed as she moved about the house.

It was quiet, which was it rarity in their home. If they were up, things were going on; it was just the way they were. The television would typically be on, even though it might be watching itself, phones would be ringing, and footsteps would be marching through the place as if on a mission of the utmost importance. There would be chatter, yelling in some cases. If not yelling, then there would have been laughter.

The quiet meant she was probably home alone, which she thought was odd because that never happened in the morning. _What are those two up to where they had to get up so early in the morning?_ She probably was not going to like it. They would not let her forget that it was her birthday; her thirtieth birthday.

Thirty. The sound of the number itself smacked of terror to her. She remembered back when thirty sounded like it was light years away, but it was upon her now like a starving lion, gnawing off her nonchalant attitude. Gone were the exciting, though crazy times of her teens and the extra-wild times of her twenties. Thirty sounded so old to her, not mature, but old. It was like she was over the hill. It was just… old. She was old.

She was a thirty-year-old woman in a polygamous lesbian relationship. Thinking of it in such a way made her think she was being immature and making an attempt to save some part of youth by being in such a relationship, especially since her partners were younger than she was by six years. But, that thinking was short-lived. She dismissed the idea, knowing she was just letting her age get to her.

Yes, she might be in a seemingly fantastic relationship that most of the world might not agree with for various reasons, but they all loved each other very deeply. They took care of each other. Well, most of the time, it seemed like Bonnie took care of her and Kim, but they all tried their best. They had to play to their strengths and they all brought a different sort of affection to the table.

No matter what, though, they were always there for each other. They were all happy with each other and that was what counted. It did not help her feel any better about her birthday or the fact that her girlfriends were probably plotting against her, evil creatures that they were. _I told them to just forget about this damn day, but of course they wouldn’t listen_.

“What in the hell made me think they would listen? I must be outta my mind,” Shego snorted, needing to hear the sound of someone’s voice, even if it was her own.

She told herself to be patient as she went to take a shower and get ready for her “check-in” with Global Justice. She could be patient with those two, she reminded herself. She had to patient because if she just wanted to forget that it was her birthday, she knew her lovers were probably looking to make it a very special day. They had good intentions toward her. _Now, if only they’d freaking listen when I say I just want to forget this crap_. But, she cohabited with some stubborn, hardheaded females; they were just like her, she supposed.

So, she had to mentally prepare for whatever they had in store of her. She just hoped like hell that they did not do anything too over-the-top. _Who am I kidding? This is Kim and Bonnie. I’ll be lucky if they didn’t manage to get a yacht with the best champagne and caviar for this crap_.

She took her shower and got dressed in casual gear. She refused to make it a point to look professional or anything for Global Justice. She went to the kitchen and definitely confirmed she was alone. She might have been upset because it meant she would have to have to make her own breakfast on her birthday when her lovers should pamper her on such a day, but they were off being troublemakers and up to something big. She would have rather make her own breakfast since it was something that could help her forget about this dreadful day. _I guess I can forget until I have to put up with whatever those nutty two are scheming on_. Hopefully, some major spoiling would be involved, which would make it all tolerable in her opinion. Well, being spoiled always made everything better.

She left the house, locking the door behind her. She found it odd that Bonnie’s car was still in the driveway, even though she was not home. Bonnie typically made it a point to never walk when she could drive and Kim could not drive her anywhere considering her little car got totaled when she got rear-ended. She was not sure what to make of the vehicle being there, but she was not going to look a gift-horse in the mouth. 

Shego was glad that the car was there. “I guess drive to this stupid thing with GJ.”

 _They probably left the car here for me, actually_. She thought that was rather sweet. If the car had not been there, she would not have been able to get to her check-in with Global Justice, not at the agreed time anyway. _Well, Kimmie had promised to call in a favor for me. Is this what she meant?_ The thought put a smile on Shego’s face for a second before she remembered she was on her way to fucking Global Justice.

 _Goddamn Global Justice, being annoying about everything_. They were so nosy and nervous for no reason, as far as she and her lovers were concerned anyway. Global Justice requested she come in randomly just to make sure she was not doing anything remotely illegal and she went along with it to make sure they did not bug anyone close to her. She hated to think what would happen if they harassed her mother again. People might actually die if that happened again. _Of course, I really don’t care_.

Since she found Global Justice annoying, she liked to be just as irksome in return. One of her favorite things to do was point out what the hell kind of illegal activity was she going to get involved in while living with Kim Possible? Most of the agents did not get it, but Doctor Director’s jaw tensed every single time she mentioned it. The director was so scared she would manage to corrupt the pure and innocent Kim Possible. _If she saw Kim in bed, she’d know I don’t need to corrupt her_. 

She used her keys to get in the car; yup, she had keys the car. Bonnie had given Shego keys to the car and for a week, the lawyer actually teased Kim that she could not have a set because they needed that one last car. Kim had not found it funny in the least, but she knew Bonnie was just playing with her, even though that did not make it any more amusing to the redhead. Shego teased Kim the whole week that she could take the car out and Kim could not. Eventually Bonnie would give Kim keys, they all knew that, but it was fun while it lasted.

The green-skinned former villainess drove off to go have her irksome meeting with Doctor Director, who was the only person at Global Justice that could stand being in a room with Shego for more than two minutes. The one-eyed female even felt like tearing her remaining eye out after being around Shego for a certain amount of time, which Shego knew and considered a huge victory on her part. The leader of Global Justice did not understand how Kim and Bonnie put up with the pale woman for as long as they did.

Yes, Doctor Director was slightly aware of the arrangement between Kim, Bonnie, and Shego. She knew they all lived together and were rather close, but she did not know how close they truly were. She suspected things, but really did not want to know the truth behind it all. Thankfully, Shego never taunted her with the truth, but some of things she implied… well, Doctor Director preferred not to think about it.

-8-8-8-8-

“Baby, is that you?” Bonnie called as she heard the front door open. She was in the kitchen, working as hard and as fast as she could. She wished she had more arms to ensure she would be able to finish everything on time or that she could move at hyper speed, just something to make sure she would be able to finish everything when she needed to. 

“Yeah, it’s me,” Kim replied as she shut the door behind her and she went to the kitchen to talk to Bonnie face to face. She smiled a bit while watching her tanned girlfriend zip through the kitchen, checking pots and stirring things in a mixing bowl. _Should I find this as sexy as I do?_ Giving Bonnie another look, Kim decided that, yes, she should find this as sexy as she did.

“How’d everything go? Fine?” Bonnie asked with hope in her voice, casting the hero only a quick glance because she did not want to lose sight of anything she was working on at the moment. The last thing they needed was for something to get complicated since they were working with a very thin time limit.

“It went perfectly. She’s going to love it,” the olive-eyed female answered with a giant smile. She was certain the whole setup would be absolutely lovely and perfect for their lover.

“Then what took you so long?” Bonnie inquired with a wrinkled brow. She had been about to panic because Kim was running behind schedule. They both needed to be there when their green-skinned vixen showed up.

Kim let out a long, aggravated groan. “Parking on this block is just gross beyond belief. I had to circle the block like five times before a spot opened up close enough to the house.” She pretended to fall dramatically to the floor from the pain, but only made it halfway.

“Makes you thankful for the driveway, doesn’t it?” Bonnie remarked with a smile.

Kim nodded. “Well, when I had a car anyway. Okay, so I’m going to go wrap everything. You’re good to go in here? You need me to go out and get anything?” she asked to be sure.

“No, babe, I’m good. Go wrap the gifts.”

Kim walked off to go wrap the gifts, which they had put in the den in the closet, knowing their girlfriend would not bother to look there for anything. Halfway through her job, she found out Bonnie was not as fine as she claimed and she had to run to the store for the tanned beauty on three separate occasions in about two hours. Kim did not mind.

In fact, Bonnie noted Kim made those runs for her with great enthusiasm, much more than necessary. She did not think too much of it because she had to focus on several things going on in the kitchen. But, it was now in the back of her mind.

Bonnie was working on dinner and dessert. She was attempting to make all of Shego’s favorite things. With luck, she would do it before the former thief returned home. She was not trying anything too fancy because she did not want to mess it up, so most of the international foods Shego so loved to dine on when they went out would not be on the menu tonight. She was making something she had made on countless occasions, which were chicken cutlets. She used some different seasonings on the chicken than usual because the one time she had changed things, Shego had been thrilled about it. Of course the older woman had tried her best to hold that in because she did not want Bonnie to think she had done something extraordinary. Bonnie just had learned to read Shego well throughout their time together.

Other than the chicken, there was Cajun rice, which was something that Shego adored and ordered at every restaurant they went to. With the rice, she would mix in black beans because that was the way that Shego liked it. There would also be broccoli with cheese and biscuits. Out of it all, the rice was really going to be the tricky thing for her because she had only made it on a couple of occasions and even though her lovers tried to spare her feelings, she knew it could have been better. She put forth her best effort right now, though because it was going to be a cold day in Hell that she let some rice ruin such a carefully thought out plan.

For dessert, she had to go for something that would not clash with the birthday cake. It was simple enough since Shego was a big fan of banana pudding, liking the cookies crumbled in it most of all and adding whipped cream. And so, she made a fairly big dish of banana pudding; it was enough for Shego to enjoy beyond her birthday. The only thing Bonnie did not make was the birthday cake.

Kim had gone out and brought a strawberry short cake – a rather big one if the box was any indication of the size. _I should’ve gotten the cake_. She sighed. She would have at least been practical about things and gotten a cake they probably would finish. But, no need to dwell on that, she told herself. The cake was there and it was Shego’s favorite, like everything else. That was all that mattered.

-8-8-8-8-

Shego left out a tired sigh as she entered the house. She was happy to be home, even if it was probably an ambush. Still, she would rather be with her girls on this most dreaded day than at a Global Justice office being asked questions about her life, which she did not think was any of their damn business to begin with. She had no problem telling Doctor Director that as often as possible. She could only be cooperative to a certain extent, after all.

If she had not already suspected, the green-skinned woman would have known Kim and Bonnie had planned something the moment that she entered the house. The place was dark, except for one beaconing light shinning from the dining room as if it led to heaven. She decided to see what the light was all about, just in case they had gone through a lot of trouble on her behalf, which she would, of course, love, even if it was on this day.

As soon as Shego entered the dining room, she was assaulted with two chipper “Happy Birthday!” declarations. The shouts were followed by kisses on each cheek. She had to force herself not to smile already. She was thankful that neither of her lovers had a smart aleck remark to go along with wishing her a happy birthday. They just had heartfelt words and gestures that showed their affections for her and that made things tolerable so far.

“How was your day, sweetie?” Bonnie asked while Kim helped Shego out of her jacket.

The action made the ex-thief glance at Kim as if something was wrong with her. After all, they only took each other out of clothing when they were about to do something pleasing and sweaty. Kim just smiled at her, an impish sparkle in her olive eyes. Shego shook it off and turned her attention back to Bonnie.

“Crappy, as expected. What are you two planning?” Shego inquired with a narrowed gaze. There was nothing in the dining room worth noting at the moment, like food or drinks. What were they trying to pull? She was curious more than anything else, trusting she would be able to make it through their plot as long as they continued to show genuine care toward her.

“Sit down,” Bonnie gently ordered while pulling out the chair at the head of the table. The pale woman’s jacket was now secure in the hero’s grip.

“I don’t—” Shego started to say, but the turquoise-eyed female cut in.

“Look, don’t start arguing. Just sit down,” Bonnie commanded in a rather authoritative voice. Her girlfriends suspected that was a tone she often used in the courtroom and for negotiations. Whenever she used it, they knew it worked on them and if she could control them, then, hell, she might actually be able to take over the world.

The guest of honor listened to the order. Kim and Bonnie left the dining room once she was in her seat. Kim went to put Shego’s jacket away while Bonnie went to get the food. Shego was left squirming in her seat a bit. Now, she actually hoped they did not go all out for her for some reason. Maybe she wished they would agree with her that her birthday was not a big deal and she would be able to make it through the day in peace, but that did not seem to be the way things were going. She felt like they were going to make a big production out of the whole thing.

Kim returned before Bonnie did and she had a wine glass in her hand along with a bottle. She placed the glass down next to Shego, who looked up at her. The slim hero grinned rather widely, more than usual in Shego’s expert opinion. She then proudly displayed the bottle she held, Shego’s favorite wine.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, I can tell already you two have gone too far and lost your minds,” the pale woman commented.

“How so?” Kim asked as she poured the drink.

“This stuff is fucking expensive,” Shego pointed out, as if they did not know. It was expensive to the point that she used to steal it rather than buy it. 

“What’s your point?” Kim inquired like she was not really following, even though she could see why it might make Shego go off a bit.

“Demon child,” Shego called, figuring she would get her point across faster to the most pragmatic one amongst them.

“What are you hollering about already? That’s not supposed to come until later tonight,” Bonnie remarked with a sexy smirk as she came back into the dining room and placed a plate overflowing with food on it in front of Shego.

“How can we afford bottles of that wine?” Shego inquired. They had bills to pay, including the rent on the house and a school that still needed funding, and the only one bringing in big money at the moment was Bonnie. She could not believe they would just waste money like that. She also could not believe she thought someone buying something nice for her that she enjoyed was a waste of money. But, she guessed she had changed quite a bit while being with her loves.

“Don’t worry about it. Just enjoy it, sweetie,” the lawyer replied with a carefree smile. The wine she had actually saved up for from the time that she found out it was Shego’s favorite; yeah, she and Kim had been plotting the day out for a long time coming.

Shego sighed and decided to do just that because it was not like her girlfriends would let her do anything else. She sipped her drink and then looked down at what was for dinner. Her mouth nearly dropped open when she saw. She turned to look at Bonnie with just about as much gratitude as the lawyer would ever see in her life, but Bonnie was already back in the kitchen getting her food; Kim was with her. So, they actually missed the look.

For a moment, all Shego could do was stare at the food. It seemed so small, but she filled with emotions she could not even begin to name. It seemed like something beyond her love for them. She could not even describe it. And, it felt like it grew when Bonnie and Kim joined her, smiling at her in a way that made her believe she was the luckiest woman on the planet.

The trio sat around and had a uniquely quiet dinner. Usually, Bonnie and Shego argued with each other over some matter that Kim did not even bother with thinking about. Besides, she typically watched them go at it and sneaked food off of their plates while they were preoccupied with barking at each other. If not those kinds of antics, then they would share stories about their days with each other in case something interesting happened after lunch. At the moment, there was nothing though, except for the silent appreciation between them all, which they all enjoyed.

Shego was appreciating the meal and the wine, loving every sip and bite. Bonnie and Kim took in the sight and they loved that Shego was so obviously delighted with their efforts _. So far, so good_ , the co-conspirators thought. They gave each other a smile and a wink.

The emerald-eyed female had two helpings of dinner before she allowed Kim and Bonnie to move to the next phase of the evening, which was to serve dessert. Bonnie made Shego a big helping of banana pudding and Shego complained about the portion, but she ate it all in about the same time that Kim and Bonnie finished theirs and they had considerably smaller servings. And then came the capper to the whole meal – the birthday cake.

“If you two sing ‘Happy Birthday,’ you better do it while running,” Shego warned her girlfriends while holding up a fist. The threat might have been a bit more convincing if she had at least lit her hand up, but it did not even cross her mind to do that.

“Come on, Shego. That’s the whole point in bringing out the cake,” Kim argued while opening the box to reveal a huge cake covered in whipped cream. It read “Happy First Birthday with Us. Love You Always” in emerald writing. There were matching green flowers done in icing decorating the cake with strawberries at the center of each flower.

“I don’t care,” Shego huffed while noting a twinge went through her as she saw the message on the cake. She was very touched by everything happening, but she was still going to be difficult. She had to be that way and so, she folded her arms across her chest and frowned as deeply as she could without appearing to force it.

“Well, we do and we’re singing it,” the turquoise-eyed female stated with her arms folded across her stomach. She stared Shego down.

“Don’t do it,” Shego practically plead and then she saw Bonnie put a candle on the cake. “On, come on, you two! That’s for little kids!” She motioned to the lone candle with sharp flick of her wrist.

“Stop being so huffy about everything,” Kim replied, shaking her head.

Shego snorted in anger while Bonnie lit the candle and Kim hit the lights. Bonnie and Kim sang the short version of “Happy Birthday” and then told Shego to blow the candle out. The raven-haired female turned her nose up, as if refusing to put the flame out, but after a few seconds of watching the wax drip onto the lovely cake, she quickly put the fire out.

“Time for presents,” Kim announced with an eager grin on her face, as if she was the one that was going to get to open them. She bounced a little, having just a little more energy than usual apparently.

“Can’t I cut the cake?” Shego asked, practically begging them. She was ready to start in on what she knew was a strawberry short cake since the theme of the night seemed to be her favorite things.

“After opening the gifts,” Bonnie answered firmly. Evidently, there was going to be no arguing with her that night. It was kind of sexy, but Shego refused to even think about that right now.

“So many damn rules,” Shego groaned.

Bonnie rolled her eyes while walking off with Kim in order to bring the gifts in at once. They came in with stacks in their arms and placed the wrapped boxes on the floor next to Shego. The former thief was stunned to see so many presents. The last time she had gotten so many things for her birthday was when she was a child.

“All of these are for me?” Shego asked in disbelief.

“Of course,” Kim and Bonnie replied simultaneously.

Shego was visibly choked up for a few seconds. She got herself together and began opening her presents. She adored everything, even though she tried her best to play it cool. She immediately donned her locket. It held a picture of all three of them that Kim had taken on their sofa; she had set the timer on her camera and they all curled up on the sofa for a decent picture of all three of them. Shego smiled softly to herself while looking at the photo and then she went through her remaining presents.

“Should I start watching these tonight?” Shego wondered aloud, holding up the large box set of monster movies. The set was the last thing that she opened. She loved everything they had given her, especially the sneakers and fighting equipment because she needed those items.

“That’s not all the gifts,” Bonnie informed the birthday girl with a small smile.

“What do you mean? There’s more?” Shego asked, eyes wide and her eyebrows high on her forehead now.

They had already done way more than Shego expected. She thought they would do a regular, but romantic dinner, the cake, and then retire to the bedroom for a wild night of group sex, but there was so much more. It continued to fill her with emotions, which she thought was odd. After all, how can a person continue being filled if already full? She almost felt bad because of it, like she did not deserve the attention. Love was a weird thing to make her think such things, she mentally commented.

“Yes, there’s more,” Bonnie answered and then Kim pulled a key out of her pocket.

“Here you go,” Kim said. She tossed the key at Shego, who caught it easily.

“What’s this to?” the pale woman inquired with an arched eyebrow. She inspected the key and what was connected to the key. It was clearly a key and remote fob to a car.

“Go out there and see,” Kim replied with a smile. Bonnie nodded in agreement.

Shego tore herself from her chair and marched out of the house. She held up the key ring and pushed the button, looking to see which car went off. A vehicle’s lights flashed that was parked right across the street. She walked up to it and tried to get a good look at the economy-sized sedan in the dark. It was not as big as Bonnie’s car, but it was not as small as Kim’s car. It would comfortably fit all three of them.

“They didn’t…” Shego turned back to the doorway of the house and saw her girlfriends standing there. “They did. What the hell?” Shego muttered to herself and then she marched back over to her lovers, demanding an explanation. “How the fuck can we afford a car?” And the wine, for that matter, but she did not mention it.

Her lovers smiled, not even upset with her harsh tone. Shego’s nostrils flared as she stared down at them. They chuckled a bit.

“Just go test drive it and then park it in the driveway before something happens to it,” Bonnie replied, brushing Shego off with a wave of her hand. Kim just smiled and nodded.

Shego eyed the pair skeptically and a sneer curled to her lip for just a moment. She decided to just go and drive her new car before she said something that ruined the evening. Still, this was too much.

Shego practically ran back to the automobile and got in. She turned on the light to look around inside and saw that she was surrounded by a black leather interior. _Oh, man_ , her brain commented; they sure knew how to get to her. Running a finger over the leather, she shuddered just a little.

“If it’s possible, I love them even more now,” Shego muttered to herself as she started the car to get a feel for the vehicle.

“That was smart of you to not tell her about the money we got from my accident,” Kim said to Bonnie as they watched Shego take off up the street. They hoped she was not going to be too hard on that car.

“I told you we could do something good with all that money. Our sweetheart sure was happy,” Bonnie replied. She felt immensely good about herself because of how visibly pleased their lover was. She and Kim had done something spectacular as far as she was concerned. They had made Shego enjoy her birthday, even though she had been gripping loudly about it for a couple of months, like turning thirty was the end of the world.

Kim nodded in agreement. “I guess that accident came in handy.”

“Well, we couldn’t have done it without that guy smashing your car up and, of course, me getting that big ass settlement. Good thing you were all right, though,” Bonnie said and she rubbed Kim’s shoulders for no particular reason other than she was glad that Kim was still in one piece. “Okay, let’s go set up for the last part of the night,” the attorney suggested with a smile.

Kim nodded again. The two of them turned and went back into the house. They left the door unlocked since Shego had gone out without her keys and they would prefer not having her pick the lock to get back in or disrupting them with the doorbell. Shego would actually sooner pick the lock than ring the bell.

-8-8-8-8-

Shego just sat in the driveway behind the wheel of her car. It ran smooth, which she expected. The stereo system was phenomenal, which was something that she appreciated; she was always ready to blow the speakers in Bonnie’s car. She ran her hand across the steering wheel and the dashboard. She could not wait to take her loves for a drive in the sweet, little ride, even though she was still in some shock that they had brought her a car.

“How the hell did they manage a car?” she wondered under her breath. “And the damn wine. I mean, how?” She did not like them keeping this from her, even if they were trying to make a grand gesture for her birthday. “Guess I should ask them,” she sighed, her eyes drifting to the house.

She noticed there was a dim light coming from their bedroom from her spot in the driveway. She could guess what was going on up there, so she had better show up sometime soon, being the guest of honor and everything. She ran her fingers over her steering wheel again before exiting the car and entering the house.

She made sure to lock the door behind her and slowly ascended the stairs. There were flower petals sprinkled on the floor, leading a path upstairs. She smiled to herself; they sure were making a nice production out of the whole thing, but she was not about to complain. When she hit the upstairs, she noticed that the floor petals led to the bathroom, not the bedroom. It was weird, but she followed the path, curious as to what awaited her.

Upon entering the bathroom, she saw candles lit and bubbles in the tub, which was full. The candles were scented and filled the room with a wonderful scent of lavender and vanilla. It was subtle and relaxing. Kim and Bonnie stood by the wall with washcloths in hand. _They’re really too much. This is almost too much_ , Shego thought, especially if they were going to do what she believed they planned to do.

“Really?” Shego said because she could not just stand there silently.

“Yeah, really,” Bonnie replied because she had to say something back. 

The younger pair approached Shego and began to methodically strip her out of her clothing. When Bonnie noticed Shego was about to say something else, she put a silencing finger to Shego’s lips. She proceeded on when she saw Shego was going to just shut up for once. The green-skinned woman went with things, letting them strip her completely, lead her to the tub, and then gently wash her. She silently admitted it was the most loving and erotic thing she had ever experienced.

After bathing Shego, Bonnie and Kim dried her, too. They carefully wrapped her in a fresh towel once they were finished. They led her to the bedroom, where there was more candles lit and giving off the same heavenly aroma. It did not match the burning passion in their gaze, though.

“Go sit at the head of the bed, love,” Kim instructed Shego.

The star of the night decided against arguing or even being difficult, even though she liked being difficult. She needed to see where this was going as soon as possible, though. Kim and Bonnie disappeared for a brief period of time. Shego looked around for some hint of what they had planned, but she did not see anything that was telling.

When Bonnie and Kim returned, they wore black lingerie that left nothing to the imagination. Shego let out a long breath. They smirked at her and it made her heart race a little.

“Wow,” Shego muttered.

“Oh, you’ll be saying a lot more than that when we’re done with you,” Bonnie promised.

“Or… maybe a lot less,” Kim remarked with a smirk. 

Shego could not help herself. She scoffed. “Promises, promises.”

Kim and Bonnie both looked at her, accepting the challenge. They flanked Shego with Bonnie going to the left and Kim on the right. They both started kissing her neck at the same time and they did such a good job of it that Shego was not sure which way to tilt her head to signal for more. So, sighing, she threw her head back and let them work.

Bonnie and Kim continued to move together and they both reached under the pillows near them simultaneously. They retrieved twin items that Shego failed to notice until it was too late. The pair handcuffed Shego to the headboard.

“What the hell is going on?” Shego demanded with a growl as soon as she noticed that she had been restrained.

“It’s just insurance to make sure you lie here like a good little birthday girl and let us work for the whole night,” Bonnie replied before placing a teasing kiss on the end of Shego’s nose.

Shego glared at Bonnie, which just made Bonnie smile. Shego opened her mouth, about to argue, but Kim and Bonnie attacked at the same time, halting any words in her throat as soon as they touched her. Kim nibbled on her neck while Bonnie moved down, licking and sucking on an erect emerald nipple. Shego could not hold in her moans, especially when Kim pinched and rolled her other nipple. Other hands wandered, earning more sounds from Shego as pleasure danced just at the edge of her nerves.

They took their time tenderly stroking Shego’s whole body to the point of madness, Kim handling only the right side and Bonnie handling only the left side. Shego could hardly think when they began all of their deep caresses and loving kisses. It felt so damn incredible.

Yes, they had all had sex together countless time, but they had never done something where two of them focused on one of them. They always made the attempt to pay attention to each other equally to make sure that there were no misunderstandings between them. At the moment, there were no misunderstandings; everything was all about Shego and what Kim and Bonnie were doing was close to magical. But, it was also exasperating for the pale woman.

Bonnie and Kim were massaging and teasing every inch of the green body that was at their mercy. Their fingers and palms were making delicate circles on Shego’s divine figure, causing her to moan and groan, in both pleasure and frustration. Lips, teeth, and tongues eventually joined in, both helping and hurting matters. Shego had to bite her bottom lip for a moment to keep from going insane and to keep from screaming at the pair for their evil deeds. And to think, she was supposed to be the bad one. 

“Come on,” Shego pled with them while trying to arch and turn into different touches and failing mostly because there were so many things that she wanted to experience deeper. She really just wanted to get her arms away from the bed and force them to stop teasing her, but she did not want to break the bed.

“Don’t make us gag you, too,” Bonnie remarked with a cruel smirk on her face that let the birthday girl know she was completely serious.

“But… but… but…” Shego whimpered, her heart pounding in her chest. “I need more…” she complained in whisper.

“You’ll get that,” Kim assured her. To prove her point, she ran a finger just outside of where Shego needed them. Shego quivered and whined as Kim peppered her breast with wet kisses.

“When we’re ready to give it to you,” Bonnie added before skimming Shego’s intimacy with two fingers. 

Shego squeaked and then made a very pathetic face, beseeching with her expression that her lovers put her out of her misery, but they continued on with their tantalizing touches. It felt so delightful, but she wanted so much more. She continued to implore them, but they went at their own, predetermined pace. She panted, moaned, and arched, each move and sound spurring her lovers on.

When they finally gave her what Shego wanted, she screamed so loudly that they were certain the neighbors heard, but they did not care. Damn the neighbors. Damn the world at the moment. Only Shego mattered. Only Shego and her very happy birthday.

-*-(Next day)-*-

Shego slept with a big, satisfied smile on her face. This was by far the best birthday that she had ever had. Bonnie was asleep, too, curled up into Shego’s left side with her head resting on Shego’s arm instead of on a pillow. Bonnie’s hand was draped across Shego’s abdomen with her fingers just below Shego’s breast. Shego’s arm was wrapped around Bonnie’s shoulders. She smiled in her sleep, too, having drifted off immensely pleased with the “mission” being a success.

Kim was knocked out on the other side of Shego, snuggled up just as close as Bonnie was. It was evident that she was not sleeping as well as the other two from the slight grimace covering her face. She twitched every so often, like an abused puppy. There was a comforting green hand on her back and every time she moved, it automatically caressed her gently, letting her know that everything was all right, even in their sleep.

Shego woke up first and smiled wider when she saw how Kim and Bonnie looked pressed against her. It was quite the magnificent sight, one she would not mind waking up to more often. She was tempted to try to talk them into repeating last night when they woke up, but it was clear they were worn out. Of course, considering they had gone until Shego had almost passed out, she could see how they ran out of energy. She would let them sleep and occupy her time in another way, definitely eating more banana pudding that waited for her downstairs and maybe even cutting the cake, even though it was the morning.

The pale woman had to use all of her stealth skills to slip out of the bed without waking her partners. She covered them with the blanket on the bed to protect their nude forms from catching a chill. She then put on a robe, which was becoming a habit thanks to her lovers harping about her wandering the house naked. They always told her that they did not want someone else to see her naked and it might encourage peepers if someone did notice she walked around the house without any clothing.

As Shego descended the stairs, she noticed a light flashing on the house phone’s stand, letting her know a message waiting. She decided to check it since she was up and it turned out that it was for her anyway. It was her mother.

“Hey, firefly, it’s Mommy. I’m just calling to wish you a happy birthday. I’m not in the country at the moment, so I can’t come and see you until next week. I figured it would be all right because I know your girls have to have something phenomenal planned for you. So, I’ll see you sometime next week. I’m going to deliver your gift myself, so don’t expect anything from me in the mail. Enjoy your day,” Isabel said and it was clear from her tone she had smiled all the way through the message.

Shego rolled her eyes as she erased the message. She was glad she had caught that message before Bonnie did. The tanned vixen would have made fun of her for the rest of the week thanks to that message. Sometimes, Shego was not sure if her mother just did not think when she left messages or if the woman was truly evil and trying her damnedest to get people to make fun of Shego.

The former villainess then marched into the kitchen to have some “breakfast.” In her book, banana pudding could count as breakfast, as long as no one found out she had it as a meal anyway. Bonnie would probably have kittens if she found out. Shego made herself a big bowl and then went into the dining room to look at her gifts again; she had left them where she opened them last night because she had not gotten the chance to move them.

She sat at the table, inspecting the speakers for her iPod. Now, she could share her tunes with the rest of the house. She was willing to bet it would get on Bonnie’s nerves, which was what made the gift even sweeter. She could also listen to her music in the shower thanks to the speakers, too, which would be cool. It was a good gift.

She was going to look at her new dress, but she did not want to chance staining it with banana pudding, so it would have to wait until she was done eating. She hoped she had an excuse to wear it soon. Maybe Bonnie would win a big case and take them out to celebrate or Kim might make a big sale with a photo, which always translated into an outing for the three of them. She was willing to bet she would drop jaws in that dress. She definitely wanted the pair upstairs to be included in those jaws that hit the floor.

She then turned her attention to the monster movie box set. She would like to open that as soon as possible. Maybe they would all curl onto the sofa and make a marathon out of the set since they did not have anywhere to go, as it was thankfully their day off. She would like wasting the day away with a movie marathon.

Her attention was turned from her gifts as she heard someone coming downstairs. From the amount of pressure she could tell being used on the stairs, she knew it was Bonnie. Kim stepped much lighter than Bonnie did, more than likely because it paid in her line of work to be quiet.

“Hey, sweetie,” Bonnie said in a groggy tone, hugging Shego from behind and leaning down to kiss the green-skinned female’s forehead since she was seated.

“Hey, demon child,” Shego replied, returning the embrace with one hand to avoid making it awkward.

“Oh, sweetness, what are you eating? Let me make you breakfast,” Bonnie insisted when she saw that Shego was having a bowl of banana pudding.

“It’s all right,” the older woman said in a dismissive tone. She was almost done and it held her as well as most breakfast foods. Besides, it was freaking delicious.

“No, no, no, think of it as a birthday gift since we left you yesterday morning,” Bonnie stated, waving her off. She thought breakfast would be fair since she honestly believed she owed it to Shego because they had left her all alone on her birthday morning. Even though, they did have an excellent excuse for doing so.

Shego shook her head. “You don’t have to do that.”

“Too late.”

Bonnie walked off into the kitchen and Shego could guess that her favorite breakfast food was on the way since this counted as part of her birthday. _Ah well_ , she told herself. Why even argue? She was going to enjoy it, after all. So, she went back to her gifts and her banana pudding, which she was shocked Bonnie had not tried to confiscate.

Bonnie had considered taking the pudding, but decided against it. She figured she could ease up on Shego for a little while, almost like that was another birthday gift. Shego better appreciated it while it lasted.

Minutes later, Kim came downstairs, her hair a hilarious hot mess as always. She kissed Shego as a morning greeting and then went into the kitchen kiss Bonnie. She then sat down at the table with Shego, who noted that Kim looked a bit tired. There were lines under her eyes, which lacked their usual spark.

“You okay, Pumpkin?” Shego asked, reaching over and caressing Kim’s hand with her own.

“Yeah, I just had a nightmare,” Kim answered, waving Shego off. She had actually had a series of nightmares that she really did not even want to think about. Suffice to say, most of them involved her parents never speaking to her again. Making it worse, she could not entirely remember them, but could feel the inner dread they left behind.

“Well, I’m sure breakfast will make you forget all about it. We’re having pancakes and cheese eggs,” Shego informed the redhead with a bit of a happy smile.

Kim smiled a bit, too; that did sound good. She hoped she would be able to keep breakfast down. Her stomach was still a little twisted from her nightmares.

Shego was right about what they were having because that was her favorite breakfast. The meal included bacon, much to Shego’s delight, and the bacon did not even come with a lecture about eating healthy. They all sat down and had a peaceful breakfast together.

“So, what do you say after this, I crack open this set and we watch movies until we pass out?” Shego suggested, holding up her library of monster movies.

“Fine,” Bonnie conceded, even though she hated monster movies. She was just having a good time making Shego cheerful, so she figured she would go with what the raven-haired female wanted to do. Besides, monsters movies did give her an excuse to snuggle with both Shego and Kim, hiding from the “scary” parts.

“I need to run to the gallery today, but I’m okay with it when I get back,” Kim answered.

“Take my car,” Shego offered. It felt nice to be able to say such a thing and she wanted them all to lounge around to watch the movies, so she wanted the hero to get back home as soon as possible.

“No, you should be the first one to drive it some place,” Kim argued. She was not counting the fact that she had been the one who picked the vehicle up and drove it home from the lot.

Rolling her eyes, Shego snorted. “That’s crazy. Just take the car.”

“No, I need some air anyway,” Kim said. It might help her clear her head and allow the nightmares and everything they left behind to fade away.

Shego tried to offer her car more forcefully, but Kim did not go for it. The adventurer ate breakfast with her girls and then went to take a quick shower. She grabbed an envelope full of photos and then trotted out the house, hollering a universal goodbye as she stepped out of the door. 

As soon as the door shut behind her, Kim breathed out a desperate sigh that she had been holding in for two days. With the sigh, she allowed herself to feel all of the agony that she had bottled up inside of her to go forth and conquer her soul. Sometimes, it just felt better to hurt than to fight, she thought, because it certainly felt better to her to let that pain roam free than to try to hold it at bay like she had been doing since that conversation with her parents.

-8-8-8-8-

Shego and Bonnie decided to take a shower together before going to spend the whole day on the sofa. It was a great way to save water, which would help the planet, and it would save them money on the water bill. But, most of all, it would be a great deal of fun. They were rather right about that and enjoyed the time in there, even though Shego complained Bonnie hogged the hot water. Bonnie denied the charges, of course, going so far as to pointing out how it was impossible for her to hog the water when she was being pressed up against the wall.

“You like it here,” Shego hissed, pushing her body against Bonnie’s. Bonnie moaned at the contact, hooking her leg onto Shego’s hip, trying to pull Shego closer. Shego did not budge.

“You’re lucky you’re stronger than I am,” Bonnie commented while clinging to Shego as the shower and other activities continued.

Shego groaned as Bonnie’s blunt nails dug into her shoulder blades. She rocked her hips against Bonnie. The motion did little for them, both needing more friction. Shego held Bonnie’s leg against her and slipped her hand in between their bodies. Bonnie cooed at the contact.

It was a rare day indeed when Bonnie and Shego messed around on their own. They were not alone often like Shego and Kim because Shego and Kim worked together and had the same schedule for the most part. Every now and then, Kim would get a mission when they were all home together, leaving Shego and Bonnie together, but they worried about Kim on the mission, so it was hard to get into a very heated session like now. They doubted anything horrible could happen to Kim going to the gallery, so they could relax with each other.

“You’re lucky I don’t break you in half,” Shego remarked in a dangerously low tone, her mouth by Bonnie’s ear. She nipped the lawyer’s earlobe, clinging to it for a moment with her teeth.

Bonnie whimpered because of the move. She often tried struggling with Shego, fighting for control of what was going on, but her will alone was no match for Shego’s superior strength. She never surrendered completely though, always challenging Shego the moment she could. They both enjoyed that, even though Shego liked to pretend that annoyed her to no end.

“You wish you could,” Bonnie replied. She captured Shego’s bottom lip between her teeth and nipped it.

Shego growled and pressed against Bonnie even more. Bonnie cried out as Shego slipped inside of her. Shego moaned from the feel of Bonnie. She could not help herself, she had to kiss Bonnie. Bonnie held her closer, chest heaving and sliding their wet bodies against each other. 

“So fucking good,” Shego muttered.

Bonnie could only moan as she moved against Shego even more. They kissed once more and Bonnie collapsed against Shego as her body shuddered with pleasure. Shego smiled smugly, earning an eye-roll from Bonnie.

“Don’t look so proud of yourself. I could’ve just as easily done this without you,” Bonnie said. 

“Yeah, but it definitely wouldn’t have been as much fun,” Shego remarked. “But, how about you show me what you can do? I mean, I’m a little skeptical you can do something this awesome.”

As expected, Bonnie glared at her. Shego smirked, but that expression quickly disappeared as Bonnie fell to her knees right there in the shower. The image alone, Bonnie wet and kneeling before her, was enough to make Shego go off, but then Bonnie’s lips and tongue entered the equation and this ending was a forgone conclusion.

After the steamy shower, they threw on some lounge-gear of shorts and camisoles. Shego went to pop in the first DVD, which had two movies on it, and they curled up on the sofa. Bonnie leaned against Shego and wrapped her arms around the green-skinned woman, who returned the gesture. As they watched the film, they gently caressed each other with their fingertips. It was rather nice to get along. Everything did not always have to be about a fight, they guessed. Not that either of them would say that aloud. Ever.

By the time they made it the second disc, Shego had gone to have a piece of cake and Kim had not returned yet. They did not think anything of it. Something at the gallery might have held her up. There was always a chance they were trying to figure out a display, decide on what photos to keep, or any number of things. They just hoped she got back soon, wanting to snuggle with her as much as they were with each other. 

When Kim finally did come back in, she found Bonnie and Shego asleep on the sofa, the television was watching itself, and there were two plates coated with cake crumbs on the coffee table. There was also a disregarded bowl, which had once held banana pudding.

Kim smiled a bit at the sight and she would have snapped a picture of them if she were in a different mood. It would seem they could get along well without her around. Most of the time, they always made it seem like they were going to have to have duel to settle things between them. But, looking at them now, sleeping in each other’s arms, they looked almost angelic and very much like the lovers they were.

“And very much in love,” Kim whispered, putting her hand to her heart. She gently massaged the area. It hurt, like the pain in her stomach had traveled to this new location.

 _How can my parents expect me to give them up?_ How could she have actually contemplated considering that on her way to the gallery? She had considered it long and hard, as her stomach had flipped and flopped. For a while, she thought she might even throw up. It physically hurt to be apart from her family, to be a pariah. So, she needed to figure out what to do.

This was what had taken her so long in returning. It was ridiculous. She loved them so much. She wanted to stay with them forever. How could have parents practically demand she chose between them and her lovers? How could she have actually thought on leaving?

She walked over to them and stared harder, suddenly other questions bombarded their way into her mind. It made her head hurt. Just when she thought she had chosen a side, the other end of the argument showed up again.

Were her lovers worth losing her parents, possibly her family? Yes, she loved them with all her heart and soul, but her parents were there for her through everything, including when her lovers had been her enemies, her worst enemies at that. Her parents had been there, supporting her when her current lovers had been trying their damnedest to knock her down and make her feel like something less than human or worthwhile. Would she be able to survive without that kind of support? It was all so confusing. She massaged her temples for a moment. She guessed she needed more time to think things over.

Instead of joining Shego and Bonnie for the nap, Kim collected the used dishes and walked off. She put the dishes where they belonged and still did not go back to join her girlfriends. She went to the deck outside and started going through a series of katas for lack of a better thing to do. She hoped it would clear her head and help her think straight. What was she going to do?

“Want some company?” Shego asked from the doorway, shocking Kim.

The redhead turned her head, surprised by the sudden disturbance. She was unaware she had been out there for nearly an hour. Shego and Bonnie had woken not too long ago, wondering if Kim had come in or not. Shego had noticed the movement on the deck and knew it was Kim from the motions alone.

“No,” Kim replied and then she looked down at herself. She was covered in sweat now. “I think I’m going to go take a shower.”

Shego shrugged. Kim looked like she could use a shower, preferably one that she and Bonnie had had earlier. It was too bad all three of them could not fit into that bathtub comfortably. That would be quite the thing, she thought with an amused, kinky smile on her face while Kim walked back into the house and upstairs. Shego shrugged it off and went back into the house and they continued on with the monster movie marathon.

Kim joined them after her shower. She seemed normal enough. She cuddled with them, joked with Shego, and comforted Bonnie whenever she pretended to be scared.

-*-(Next day)-*-

The trio had to get back to work, which Shego was thankful for actually and not just because she enjoyed teaching her classes. She had eaten a ton of junk that weekend and knew she would eat more when she got home since there was still cake and pudding left. She needed to workout some to make up for her gluttony. She had not done any kind of exercising that weekend at all, unless climaxing most of the night counted and she doubted it did, even though sex was a great way to burn calories.

“Although, maybe the way we do it, it should count as cardio,” she mumbled with a chuckle.

She checked her weight once she got into the locker room of their school. She had gained a couple of pounds, but that was okay. Her birthday had passed, so there was no reason for Bonnie or Kim to keep spoiling her, which meant no more favorite desserts or cakes once she finished off the ones at the house. That was relieving because the last thing she wanted to was to put on weight, especially now that she was thirty. She was willing to bet the weight would be harder to lose than it would have been in the past because she was so old now. She honestly thought that she was old, even though she did physically feel any different. 

She taught her morning class, the later one had grown to have eight people in it now, making it her largest class. Once the last person filed out, she waited for Kim to come downstairs, so they could go meet Bonnie. After a few minutes of waiting, Shego got concerned and went upstairs to see what was keeping the petite hero. She knew all of the children were gone, having watched them charge out of the place with their parents not too long ago. Kim’s kids were always so energetic as they bolted out of the school, making sure to go through moves while exiting the building. Since the brats were gone, she could not imagine what was holding Kim up. She found a note taped to the entrance of the second floor that read: _Shego, I had an emergency. I’ll be back for the afternoon classes. Go to lunch without me_.

Shego thought that was weird. Usually, Kim would tell her face-to-face if she had to run out on a mission or something. She also never used the word “emergency.” If it was a mission, she said so. If she had to go to the gallery, she said so. Kim was never vague when she ran off because she knew Shego and Bonnie worried about her, Bonnie especially and Kim hated causing Bonnie any kind of stress.

“It’s probably nothing,” Shego tried to assume herself. 

The pale woman tried not to think too much of it. Maybe there was some kind of emergency that needed taking care of. After all, Kim was not a liar and tended to be the most open among them, when it came to the things she did in the outside world anyway. So, she went to lunch with Bonnie and tried not to think about what was up with Kim.

“Where’s my baby?” the brown-haired female asked curiously when they met up at the chosen place.

“What, I’m not good enough?” Shego countered with a teasing smile.

Bonnie was not amused and glanced over to the door, as if expecting Kim to walk in. “Sweetness, seriously, where is she?”

Shego shrugged. “She said something about having an emergency. She’s not going to be here today because of it, so it’s just you and me. Maybe I’ll skip lunch and just eat you alive.” Shego gave Bonnie a wide grin.

Bonnie knew that there was two ways to take that comment and Shego meant it to be that way. She rolled her eyes. “You’re not only a sociopath, but also a maniacal cannibal. Got to know,” she retorted. 

Shego snorted. They decided to order lunch before they ended up bantering for an hour. They sat down at an outside table because Shego liked the fresh air. Kim liked the air, too, so it was almost a habit for them to sit outside if they were able to do so.

Bonnie and Shego talked about their days as they typically did. They smiled through the conversation and made civilized gestures toward each other, which was odd for them of course. They tended to get more animated with each other when they spoke, especially when they were alone, but they guessed their quiet time from yesterday extended its effects into the new day. They were not going to complain. It still felt nice to get along for once.

It felt so terrific that Bonnie even shared her dessert with Shego, even though the martial artist had ordered her own dessert. Shego accepted it since they were getting along and she was going back to the school anyway, so she would be able to work it off. And with that settled, she started to eat the piece of pie.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: the direct continuation of this chapter and Kim makes a decision.


	7. Sugary Filling, part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. Disney does.
> 
> Once again, shout-outs to the Humbug, Silver Snow Wolf, and Chibi-Izzum for their ideas.
> 
> This chapter picks up right where the last one left off.

7: Sugary Filling, part 2

Kim watched Bonnie and Shego as they ate lunch together. She was on a rooftop across the street from them and she was using mission equipment to spy on them. That sort of was the “emergency” she told Shego about in her note as to why they should go to lunch without her. She wanted to see what they looked like when she was not around. 

They looked pretty happy, if their smiles and laughter were any indication of what mood they were in. _They get along just fine without me_. They _would_ get along might fine without her. They did not need her.

 _Maybe… maybe I should leave_ , she told herself. She was not a necessity for things to work. They would take care of each other. She had no doubt about that. It would be easier to do, too. They could just be a couple. They could be a normal couple.

They would only have to focus on each other and give each other the best attention. They could be completely devoted to each other and only have to worry about their problems together. Surely their love for each other would only grow if that were the case and they both adore being the center of attention.

They would not have to fret about her on missions. They would not worry themselves sick over her. They would not have to worry much about people judging them either about the relationship. Sure, Shego did not care much about people knowing, but Bonnie was not as open as she pretended to be. She had to worry about her job, after all. There was always a chance that she could negotiate things being a lesbian, but not being a polygamist.

 _So, maybe I should leave_ , Kim considered again. _Maybe it would be the best thing for me, for them_. _I wouldn’t be there to drag them down, embarrass them, or worry them. Leaving might be for the best_. The more she thought about, the more sense it made.

Maybe somehow, she would be able to regain at least some of her parents’ respect and trust if she left. With the way Bonnie and Shego got along now, they might even appreciate it if she left. They could then expand on their relationship, which was obviously just waiting for a chance to fully blossom in her opinion. _I’m probably holding them back, holding back their_ real _relationship_. She continued to watch them and how well they got on together.

“They’d be happy without me. They’d take care of each other. They don’t need me anymore. They have each other,” she muttered over and over again as she watched them. They would take care of each other. They would never need her again.

As those thoughts flooded her, tears gathered in her eyes. She loved them so much, but her parents were her parents. She put her face in her hands and began crying. Why did everything have to be so difficult? Why would she just not be in love and that be the end of things?

The next few days went by the same as that one. Kim avoided having lunch with Shego and Bonnie, offering up weak excuses in the forms of notes instead of talking with them face to face. She just could not bring herself to lie to Shego’s face about why she was not coming out for lunch. At home, she was much better, though; or at least, she pretended to be much better.

Kim acted the same for the most part at home, or so she thought. Shego and Bonnie watched the redhead when they had the chance, which was only at home because she avoided them once they left the house. They eyed her when she thought she was alone, seeing the misery that coated her entire being almost as if it was a tangible entity. They were not totally sure what they could or should do about her, though.

They knew if they tried to talk to her, she would act like nothing was wrong. She would throw them her brightest smile and maybe even fool them into believing she was all right, if only for a little while. If they tried cuddling her, she would just act like that was normal and let them.

She would not open up to let them know what was bothering her and they were not sure what other ways there were to coax the information out of her. They wished she would just understand she did not have to be the strong one all of the time. She did not have to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders. She could drop her guard with them like they did with her and let them share her burden. She could show them her emotions, but they guessed that they did not make that easy.

They were always worrying about Kim, even though they were quite aware that bothered her to no end. But, they could not help it. At least once a week, she ran off to save the world from some sick bastard and sometimes she returned to them with wounds as medals for her courage. And then there was the fact that she never talked about if something was eating away at her, so when she acted like she was doing at the moment, it just caused them to worry more. It seemed to be a vicious cycle.

-8-8-8-8-

“What are we going to do about Kimmie?” Bonnie asked Shego.

They were on the sofa, watching one of the soap operas that Bonnie was into. She had always known Shego would be back to see it after watching an episode a while ago. Bonnie rested on top of Shego with her hand hanging off the side of the couch and Shego had her hands wrapped around the tanned female, absently drawing nonsense patterns on her back.

Kim had gone off to take a shower, a rather long shower. They were starting to wonder what she did in the bathroom now because her showers had grown twice as long as they used to. Kim actually wept in the bathroom most of the time now, making sure to do in the shower so the pouring water drowned out the noise.

“I don’t know,” Shego sighed.

“You think the fact that her parents walked out a couple of weeks ago is still bothering her?” Bonnie inquired.

“Well, probably. You know Kimmie is close to her folks. So, I can see why it would still be bumming her out, but that doesn’t explain why she started acting this way. I mean, she was fine last week,” the older woman pointed out.

“Yeah, that’s true,” Bonnie concurred.

They were silent for a while and focused on the show. They really did not know what they were going to do about their redheaded lover at the moment. Shego could not believe she had allowed herself to be drawn into the stupid soap. _Oh, if Mommy could see me now_ , she thought while mentally laughing. Isabel might actually disown her.

While they were glued to the show, Kim returned, but she did not join them on the sofa. She stood at the living room entrance and stared at them. She was surprised they were not kissing, as she had seen them do a few times earlier in the week. They were still having a good time being nice to each other and not arguing as much. Their behavior was encouraging her thoughts more on the fact that she could leave and they would be all right. _They might even be glad_ , she started telling herself.

Shego then turned around to look at the entrance of the living room, sensing the presence there. “Princess, come and pile on,” she urged the redhead, waving at Kim as best she could.

“No, you guys go ahead and watch your show,” Kim replied and she walked off.

“Baby,” Bonnie called, but Kim did not respond. Bonnie’s brow furrowed. “Okay, that’s just weird.” Kim never walked away when they called her and she never failed to watch Bonnie’s stories with her.

“Not really. Maybe she never actually got into the show and just watched with you to be with you,” Shego replied.

“Why wouldn’t she keep doing that then?”

“I guess she feels she doesn’t have to do it anymore now that I’m watching this dumb shit with you now. I mean, when she used to watch it with you, I know I didn’t feel compelled to sit with you,” Shego answered honestly.

“You’re so wicked,” Bonnie commented, shaking her head in a disapproving manner.

Emerald eyes rolled and Shego scoffed. “Oh, look who’s talking, demon child.”

Bonnie rolled her eyes right back. They both tried to watch their show, but they found themselves wondering what Kim was doing. What was wrong with her? What were they going to have to do to make things better? How could they get her to open up and talk to them? They were not sure, but they knew where they probably could start. Too bad they doubted the Possibles were talking to them, not that they would have talked to Shego before finding out that Kim was with her and Bonnie. But, there had to be something they could do.

-8-8-8-8-

Shego was asleep when she heard something suspicious downstairs. She was glad she was at the end of the bed, so it was easier to ease away from her lovers and she could go inspect the source of the noise without bothering her girlfriends. She had on her birthday pajama pants; the silk green ones Bonnie gave her. They did not screw each other silly every night, so sometimes she did sleep in pajamas. She usually just put anything on, but she knew Bonnie would like her to use the sleepwear.

She crept downstairs cautiously, examining things as she moved. She pitied the person who broke into her home. She was going to make the person regret even thinking about breaking into a house. She noticed one of the lights was on in the living room, so she tiptoed there and found the intruder.

“Mommy, I could’ve killed you,” Shego commented, putting her hands down when she saw that Isabel was the person that dared break into the house. _I should’ve known_ , her brain mumbled. Yeah, only her mother would have the guts to do something this crazy.

“You wish,” Isabel remarked as she turned around. She had been looking into the backyard, even though it was dark and she could not see much. She actually knew what the backyard looked like and she hated it. She really just hated their house, but she never said anything to them about it, feeling that two if not all three of them would take offense to her saying as much. They could do so much better in her opinion and they deserved much better in her opinion.

“What are you doing here so late?” Shego inquired as she stepped deeper into the room.

“I came to see you, of course. Happy belated birthday, firefly,” Isabel said, walking over to her daughter. She gave Shego a hug. Shego grunted and frowned, but did not pull away.

“You could’ve done that when the sun came up,” Shego pointed out. “And then you could’ve knocked on the door like a normal person and then I could’ve pretended not to be here to not have to bother with you,” she added in with a smirk.

Isabel was not affected by the remark, waving it off. “I know, but I wanted to get to you as soon as possible.”

“Where were you, anyway?”

“Now, now, firefly, that’s a personal question,” Isabel replied with a smirk that made her daughter roll her eyes. She even wagged her index finger at Shego as if she was a disobedient child, knowing it would piss Shego off a consider amount.

“That just means you met up with Dad somewhere,” Shego remarked in a haughty tone.

“You can’t prove that. My trip was work-related,” Isabel stated and her daughter rolled her eyes again. The older female was far from deterred. “So, did your girlfriends make your big day special?” she asked curiously, glancing over at the stairs.

Shego thought back to her birthday and figured she could spare some details. She talked about things up until the point she test drove her car. Isabel nodded, impressed with what Bonnie and Kim were able to throw together. She wondered about how they pulled together so much money to blow on her daughter, but she knew they were two very resourceful women and she trusted they knew how to take care of their finances.

“I can see you enjoyed the food the most,” Isabel remarked, poking her daughter in her exposed stomach.

While Shego was wearing her pajama pants, she was only wearing a sports’ bra as a top. It was clear she had put on a few pounds. It was a side effect of Bonnie’s kindness toward her. She thought it would have worn off by now and they would have been at each other’s throats again, but it did not seem to be going away. Bonnie was enjoying the warm feeling that spread through her from being nice to Shego and she liked that Shego was returning her consideration with tender affection.

“Yeah, Bonnie’s been… well, let’s just say she makes the best banana pudding,” Shego said while rubbing her abdomen. She was getting pretty doughy around the middle. _I think I need to start working out more_. Hopefully, once Kim got out of her funk, they could spar more often.

“I’m glad you’re all happy and getting along,” Isabel commented, even though she hoped like Hell that Shego did not let her weight slip.

“Actually… Mommy, could you do me a favor?” Shego requested, as if it was nothing. She was not shy about asking her mother for things, especially when they were alone and she really needed something. Despite how irksome her mother could be, the woman always came through when it counted and Shego used that when necessary.

“Anything for you, you know that,” Isabel replied with a small, genuine smile. She really would do anything for her any of her children, but especially her dearest daughter.

“We had a little situation here a couple of weeks ago where Kimmie’s parents found out about the three of us being together and everything and let’s just say they didn’t take it as well as you took it. Kimmie’s bummed out about that shit, which is understandable because she loves her folks and everything and just want them to accept how she is. So, could you maybe go talk to them or something?” Shego inquired with her eyebrows curled up in concern.

“That’s it?” Isabel asked. She managed to keep in a scoff. Usually when Shego asked something of her, she thought her daughter believed she could move mountains with her bare hands or something because of how outrageous the request typically was. She could understand why that was. After all, if it was something simple, Shego could easily handle it herself.

“Yeah.”

Isabel threw a hand in the air. “Fuck, I’ll do that in the morning. That’s nothing.”

“Good. Now, get the hell out. Some of us have work in the morning,” Shego stated.

“I have heard about your little school. I’ve got to come see you in action one day. Here’s my gift to you,” Isabel said and she handed Shego an envelope. She then leaned over and kissed Shego on the cheek. “Happy birthday again, firefly,” she said.

Shego made a face, like she had tasted something sour. It was as if she did not appreciate anything her mother had done, including agreeing to help. Her mother expected as much, of course.

Isabel took her leave while Shego stared down at the envelope. She wondered what over-the-top gift her mother had given her. She opened it to find that it was a birthday card, which she opened too and three slips of paper slid out. She read the card first, which proclaimed, “Congratulations, you’re over the hill!” She expected such taunting from her mother. In a handwritten message on the other side, the card informed her, “those are open seats, so you three can go whenever you have the time. Just call the beach house beforehand if you use it because your brothers like to hang out there, too.”

Shego leaned down and saw that her mother had given her plane tickets. They were first class and she smiled at that. It would be nice for them to all get away for a little while. Maybe it would help Kim out of her funk, but they could not leave anytime soon. They had a fledgling school to worry about, after all. She also was not sure if Bonnie would like to take anytime off yet since she was trying her best work her way up in the firm. Well, at least the tickets were open and they could talk about it to figure out when the best time to take a vacation would be.

She put the tickets back into the card and put the card back into the envelope. She went back upstairs and secured the card on the dresser. She then eased back into bed and went back to sleep. Bonnie and Kim never even knew she was gone.

-*-(Next day)-*-

Isabel checked her address book to make sure she was at the right place. Shego had called her earlier to tell her Kim’s parents’ home address. She was at the correct place as far as she could tell. She looked around before knocking on the door. After standing there for a few seconds, the door was opened by Mister Possible.

“Can I help you?” he asked curiously.

“Hi, I’m Isabel. I’m Shego’s mother,” she introduced herself rather politely and he frowned deeply. Oh, her family always left a lasting impression on people, she thought with an amused look in her eyes.

“That doesn’t explain what I can do for you,” he replied curtly. He did not feel like dealing with anyone associated with a woman who used to beat on his daughter and now was leading her into a life of deprave and deviant sexual behavior. Shego had corrupted his child as far as he was concerned, even though he was willing to place some of the blame on Bonnie. He was not much of a fan of Kim being a lesbian now, either.

“I would think about that one. I hear thinking helps,” Isabel remarked, making it clear where Shego got her smart-ass mouth from. “My presence can’t be so mysterious to an acclaimed rocket scientist,” she joked.

“I’m not interested in talking with you,” he informed her rather bluntly.

Isabel expected to be met with resistance. Her daughter had told her what happened between Kim and her parents and how they just walked out on Kim after seeing her in a very vulnerable state. It was clear they did not approve of the relationship in the slightest and probably did not want to hear anything about it. But, she could be stubborn and she figured that would pay off in the end. After all, they probably did not want to lose their daughter, which would explain why they walked out on Kim without saying a word that day. Of course, she was ignorant of the phone call that had taken place over a week ago where they had said plenty as far as Kim was concerned.

“I would think your daughter’s happiness would interest you,” she replied.

“Her happiness does interest me, but not at the moment while she’s doing something immoral and possibly illegal,” he stated.

“I doubt it’s illegal since they’re not married. Immoral is a matter of opinion, though. Morality is subjective, after all. What is so wrong about what they’re doing?” Isabel inquired curiously. Shego told her that if she tried to get the Possibles to look at things logically, they would probably cave in because they were all “science geeks” and so, she was going to try that suggestion before moving on to her own methods.

“Three people shouldn’t be involved in a relationship. Things just aren’t supposed to be that way. A relationship can only be maintained by two people, which we see day in and day out. How can three people keep a healthy relationship? One of them would be forgotten, not to mention one of those people is Shego.”

Isabel caught a frown before it could settle on her face. “Hmm… sounds like you have a problem with my daughter.”

“That monster you raised has tried to kill my daughter on several occasions.”

Isabel tensed, hand flexed into a fist. She could break this bitch of a man before her for saying such things about her daughter. Her firefly knew better than to kill anyone in cold-blood or Isabel would destroy her personally. Shego had gone after Kim aggressively in the beginning when they first met as enemies, but she seemed to know the limit she could go to where Kim would not get killed. Hell, Shego never even seriously injured Kim when they were initially enemies for reasons she never shared with her mother. But, it was clear Shego did not have any real desire to kill Kim or she would have done it a long time ago, as she was quite capable of doing such if she wanted to. And that was without her powers.

“Sir, I’m going to ignore that comment about my daughter being a monster for the moment. But, that’s only for the moment. Now, the girls have all figured out how to be together and make sure no one is forgotten. They’re quite content in their relationship and we should all respect that. They’re not hurting anyone in any way and you’re hurting Kim by cutting her off based solely on who she loves,” Isabel argued.

“What I do with my daughter is none of your business,” James stated and then he slammed the door in Isabel’s face. He was thoroughly insulted that Shego’s mother of all people would try to tell him how to handle his daughter. If anything, she needed to go fix her daughter.

Isabel frowned. So, she officially hated that man now. Not because he was being hardheaded and stubborn, but because of what he said about her daughter, of course. She turned to leave and almost walked right into Missus Possible.

“Excuse me,” Isabel said since she nearly bumped into the neurosurgeon. They both stopped just in time to avoid a collision.

“No problem. Is there something I can do for you?” Missus Possible asked, having missed the fact that her husband had just slammed the door in Isabel’s face.

Isabel was about to dismiss the doctor, not knowing who she was until she took a good look at her. The two women looked at each other, noting how familiar those faces seemed. They seemed to come to conclusions at the same time.

“Are you…” they both started to say.

“Kim’s mother?”

“Shego’s mother?”

“I am,” they both confirmed at the same time.

“What are you doing here?” the doctor asked with narrow eyes. She seemed curious, or maybe it suspicious. It was quite bizarre to be face to face with the mother of someone that used to be her daughter’s sworn enemy.

“I was hoping to talk about things going on between Kim, Shego, and Bonnie,” Isabel answered.

“Then you know about them?” the neurosurgeon asked, gaze narrowing even more. She could not believe how calm Isabel was when she mentioned the group, almost as if there was nothing wrong with what they were doing. But, she supposed she should expect no less from the woman who raised Shego. Morality probably was not big in that household, she thought.

“About their relationship? I do,” Isabel affirmed.

Missus Possible frowned. “And you approve I take it?”

“You don’t sound surprised by that.”

“Well, after seeing some of the things that your daughter does, I imagine you let her do whatever without a care in the world.”

Isabel was taken aback. The Possibles were rather rude, she noted with a scowl marring her elegant face. How could such curt people raise a little sweetheart like Kim? But then again, surely, there were people around the world questioning how she and her husband raised the nuts that they had.

“My daughter is a grown woman and quite worried about your daughter, her beloved. She requested that I speak to you because she’s worried about Kim. Now, I know that first hearing about all three of them together is shocking. I didn’t take it well myself until I saw the lengths that Bonnie and Kim would go through for Shego. They do love her and she loves them. I know it’s unconventional, but then again, they’re all unconventional women and they all know what they want. If they didn’t want to be together, they wouldn’t be. Do you really want to chance losing your only daughter over something so grey?” Isabel inquired.

“Grey?”

“It’s not something that can so easily be labeled as right or wrong as you and your husband might believe. It’s just not a black or white issue. It’s a consenting relationship that they’re all happy with and no one involved or not involved is being hurt. You should count yourself lucky that Kim found two people to love her and take care of her. Some aren’t even luckily enough to find one. Others find someone they believe loves them and all that person does is hurt them in the end. Your daughter has two people that wouldn’t hurt her come Hell or high water.”

“This…” The doctor tried to argue her stance, but Isabel was not even interested in listening.

“Let me just leave you on this,” Isabel said before Kim’s mother could get started. “Is this really what you want to lose your daughter to?” she pressed. “Good day.” She turned, a swirl of inky black hair flowing around her, and walked off.

Isabel marched to her taxi, which she had told to wait, and hoped she had gotten through to at least Missus Possible. The doctor watched her as she got in the cab and disappeared down the street.

-8-8-8-8- 

“I see where Shego gets her attitude from,” Ann muttered as she watched the car vanish. _What an odd encounter_.

Ann doubted they would lose Kim. They were just trying to get her to make the right decision. Being in a relationship with three people just was not right and nothing good could come of it. They were not losing her, but helping her. Besides, she would know if they were losing Kim. She had seen something like that happen firsthand, after all. So, there was no way they were losing Kim.

She entered the house and saw James was in the living room, working on some calculations for work. She went and greeted him with a kiss on the cheek. He seemed surprised by her presence, jumping a little in his seat.

“Hello, Ann,” James greeted his wife with a smile.

“The strangest thing just happened to me,” Ann commented as she sat down next to him.

“What’s that, dear?” he asked, paying his papers more attention than he was paying her, or so it would seem anyway. He was actually pretty good at dividing his attention when he wanted to be, so he was paying her more mind than most people would think.

“I just ran into Shego’s mother in front of the house.”

“Oh, I spoke with her. She was trying to defend her monster of a daughter,” he said.

“Do you think we could lose Kim for not accepting her relationship with Bonnie and Shego?” Ann asked, which seemed a bit off topic to her husband. They had not been talking about Kim after all.

“We can’t keep giving Kim all this leeway, Ann. We’ve talked about this. It was bad enough that we accepted her dating Bonnie. But, Bonnie was a sweet girl and she took care of Kim, which was good. This is not even close to acceptable. First of all, Shego’s evil and we know that. Second of all, a relationship is supposed to be between two people at the every least. This is what society is built on,” he stated soundly.

Ideally, James actually believed a romantic relationship was supposed to be between a man and a woman, as that was the combination that it took for offspring and the continuing of not just families, but the human race. So, biologically speaking heterosexual couples made sense and were the proper way to go about things in his opinion. But, outside of that, he could accept homosexuality since, like he said, Bonnie took care of Kim and significant others were supposed to care for each other.

“I know,” she concurred. She agreed that they had talked about things more than anything else. She was not as rigid in her thoughts of relationships, but she was not sure how to argue what she wanted to say. Her points did not seem to fit this situation and part of her was certain Kim was making a mistake being with Shego. Added to that, she had dragged poor Bonnie into it.

“So, we have to take a firm stand on this. Kimmie will come to her senses soon. I’m sure of it,” he said.

Ann sighed and nodded. Surely Kim would come back to them and start over. She would do things right.

-8-8-8-8-

Shego was out on the deck, working out and hoping to get rid of the weight that she was gaining. Oh, god, she hoped Bonnie went back to normal soon or she was going to have hurt the attorney’s feelings. Well, she was not even sure if she would be able to do that. It was so damned hard to turn down all of the great things Bonnie had been making, even though Kim seemed to have no problem doing it. Maybe because the foods were not her favorites like they were with Shego. She really needed Bonnie to stop being so nice to her or she was going to be fat.

“Hey, Shego,” Kim said from the doorway. Her voice was low, dull, as it had been for more time than her lovers liked.

“Hey, Pumpkin. Do me a favor and come spar with me,” Shego requested. Surely a few rounds with Kim would help her get back to her usual weight. It might get the redheaded hero to act normal, too.

“Um… no, I was hoping that you’d come in the living room for a moment,” Kim replied.

“Right now?”

“Please and thank you.”

Shego sighed; how could she refuse a “please and thank you”? She stopped what she was doing and walked into the living room. Kim was behind her and stopped at the kitchen from a moment to ask Bonnie to join them. Bonnie did not argue and she went to the living room, making it only to the entrance. Shego and Bonnie were stopped there and then greeted by a perplexing sight. There was a single duffle bag in the living room and it appeared to be packed.

“Kimmie…” Shego and Bonnie whispered at the same time. They both seemed to get what the bag meant, but they truly did not wish to believe it. Maybe Kim had to go away for an overnight trip or needed extra items for a mission. They tried to convince themselves there were dozens of reasons for Kim to have a bag and none of them had to be the most frightening. That bag could not possibly mean what they thought it meant… right?

“Guys… I’m leaving,” Kim stated flatly. Her eyes were dead as she stared at them.

“Leaving?” they echoed as if they did not even know what the word meant. It felt like the blood drained from their bodies at that moment, though. It would seem that wretched bag did mean what they assumed it meant.

“Yeah, I’m going to go back home,” Kim replied in low voice.

“Princess, you _are_ home,” Shego stated in a strong, unyielding tone. She was home. They were all home as long as they were together. They belonged together and she was damned certain of that. It was not like any other time they would have agreed to be in a trio, but they did together and they needed to stay together.

“No, I’m going to go home. It’s better if I left,” the hero stated, as if that made sense. Her lovers could hardly believe it.

“Baby, stop talking crazy. You can’t leave,” Bonnie argued, making her way closer to Kim, who put her hand out as a signal to stop.

“Don’t come any closer,” Kim ordered in a surprisingly sorrowful tone. Tears began to gather in her eyes without her permission. It was extremely agonizing for her to do what she was doing, but she knew this was best thing for them, all of them. They would be better off and she could still have her parents. It was for the best.

“Baby, don’t be silly,” Bonnie said in a shaky voice, her mouth trembling even when she was done speaking. This was like being trapped in a nightmare without being able to wake up if Kim truly was about to walk out that door.

“Right, Princess. Let’s talk this out. What the hell are you leaving for?” Shego roared, her eyes glaring and pleading at the same time. She pointed an angry finger at Kim. She was furious more than anything else that Kim stood there talking such madness. But, more so, her fury was directed toward Kim’s parents because this was entirely their fault.

“It’s just better this way. You two get along better when I’m not in the way and I’ll bet you’d work out great as a couple,” the hero replied.

“The fuck kind of bullshit are you talking?” Shego hollered with a scowl. They were not a couple! They were a trio, a threesome. It was the three of them and that was how it was supposed to be.

“It’s just better this way,” Kim repeated, trying her best to sound strong, but she only sounded low and grief-stricken. Tears continued to rain from her eyes, but her eyes were hollow.

“Baby, you know that’s not true. Now, stop talking this nonsense and put the bag away,” Bonnie said calmly as if Kim was a maniac with a gun. She thought the tone might get to the olive-eyed adventurer.

“No, I’m leaving. It’s just better this way. I’ll even still send my part of the rent since this is so sudden and everything, but I’ve got go,” Kim said and she started for the front door.

“Baby!” Bonnie cried out and latched on to Kim’s hand now that she knew the redhead was dead serious. “Baby, please don’t go! I love you! We love you! Stay with us, please! I know we can’t replace your parents, but we’ll be here for you until they come around. You know that! So, please stay!” Bonnie begged as tears began to flow from her eyes as if someone flipped on a faucet in her head.

It shattered Bonnie’s heart and soul to see her first love seriously about to walk out on her and their other lover. They were a trio; that was how they were all happy now. She could not stand the fact that that could come to an end. This was all she had and she wanted nothing more than to take care of both Kim and Shego.

“Pumpkin, please stay,” Shego added in. Her voice was low because of a lump in her throat and the fact that her heart was racing, so it was difficult to speak. She wanted it to be a dream, like she would wake up soon and would be able to laugh at how absurd it was, but she was all too aware that it was real. They were losing Kim.

How could they be losing Kim? This did not make sense. Kim was the one who brought them together. Kim was the one who showed them how to be happy and open their hearts. How could she be the one to leave? Had they failed her?

“I can’t,” Kim replied, tearing her hand away from Bonnie. “Goodbye, my loves,” she said and she pretty much ran out the door, having to get out of there as soon as possible or she was afraid she might lose her resolve. She had to leave, she convinced herself. It was for the best.

“Baby!” Bonnie shouted as she fell to her knees in the hallway and began bawling like never before.

Shego debated with herself – assist Bonnie or go after Kim. Going after Kim would assist Bonnie if she could bring the redhead back, so she went with her latter option. She ran out of the house and followed behind Kim. The hero noticed her lover behind her and started acting like she was being chased by a killer, cutting into alleyways and hopping over fences in order to escape. It took a few minutes, but she actually lost Shego, who just could not run anyway.

“Damn it, I’m so out of shape,” Shego muttered, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. She might be out of practice, too, she considered. After all, it had been a long time since she had to chase after the redhead. She dreaded returning home empty-handed to a bawling Bonnie, but that was all she could do at the moment.

Shego went to the house and saw that Bonnie was still crying on the floor, looking like a pathetic mess of flesh. It did not become such a strong woman at all, the former thief thought. She shut the door behind her and sat down next to the lawyer. She gathered Bonnie in her arms and held her tightly. Bonnie accepted the embrace and wrapped her arms around her pale girlfriend while continuing to cry. For the first time in her life, Shego wished she allotted herself the privilege of weeping and admired Bonnie for being able to shed such tears. They stayed there all night.

-8-8-8-8-

Kim ran all the way to her parents’ house. They lived almost a half-hour away by car, but she made it there without much fuss. She hardly had any strength to knock on the door on she arrived, but she managed. She was exhausted for some reason and it had nothing to do with the trek to get to the house.

Both of her parents answered the door. They wore robes, showing they had been in bed already. Both stared at her with wide eyes, not expecting her.

“I left them…” Kim murmured, which did not help relieve her parents of their expressions.

“You left them?” her father echoed, his forehead wrinkling.

“I left Bonnie and Shego,” she elaborated in a gut-wrenching mumble that did not seem to be piercing through the threshold of the door because her parents were not empathizing with her in the slightest.

“I knew you’d do the right thing,” James said proudly, going so far as putting his chin in the air.

“Yeah… I need a place to stay…” Kim said, unable to look at them.

“Of course, come in, Kimmie-cub,” James said, ushering the slender hero into the house and closing the door once she was safely secure inside.

Kim walked away immediately now that she knew she was allowed in the house. Doing the right there never felt so horrendous, she noted. Being at home never felt so devouring, hollow, and freezing either. She made her way to her room, which never felt so enclosed before that night. Being snapped in half by a great white shark had to be a better experience than the one that she was going through now.

“I told you she’d come around to her senses,” James declared, speaking to Ann. He looked as proud as he sounded. He had faith in Kim to do the right thing, even though he wished she had done it a bit sooner.

“I don’t think she’s come to her senses,” Ann argued. Kim walked like a woman defeated by the world, like a prisoner condemned to death for a crime someone else committed. That was far from coming to her senses and quite worrisome.

“She has. She just needs time to get it out of her system and adjust,” he said, putting a reassuring arm around her shoulders.

Ann nodded, that might be it, but there was something vaguely familiar about Kim’s walk, stance, and just overall appearance. Those slumped shoulders, weary expression, empty eyes, and a look like hitting her with a metal baseball bat would not even solicit a response seemed too familiar for her liking. Anxiety seeped into her body as if it was yolk from a slight damaged egg. She feared Isabel was right.

-*-(New day)-*-

Shego had to close the school for an undetermined amount of time, citing “a family emergency,” which was the truth as far as she was concerned. Her family was having a major emergency because one of them had suddenly walked out on them. She closed the school because she would not be able to handle Kim’s classes. She just did not have the patience for kids or novices. She also had not been able to concentrate on her classes, so she cancelled those and Kim’s classes. The school was now shut down until she and Bonnie could get their beloved back.

Kim was not making it easy for them to retrieve her either. She would not take their calls, which there were plenty of. Shego suspected she was not taking any calls because she called from several different pay phones dozens of times and she never got an answer. She even called from other people’s cell phones, but Kim never picked up, which was just weird. After all, the call could be important, but the redhead did not seem to care.

Bonnie had tried to contact Kim via her website, but Wade let her know Kim was not even paying attention to that. He had tried to tell her about several missions, but Kim was not answering her Kimmunicator. The lawyer was not sure what to make of that because the only time Kim stopped taking missions was when she had requested it.

Bonnie was naturally worried for Kim already considering what happened, but once she learned the hero was no longer doing her missions, her worry doubled. Something was beyond wrong.

Bonnie wanted to see Kim, but she knew the Possibles would not let that happen now that their daughter was with them. It did not help matters that Kim had willingly walked out on them. Sure, she used some crazy logic when she did it, but she had still done it voluntarily. She was undoubtedly staying away from them, too, of her own free will. Was she ignoring the world of her own free will, though?

Bonnie wished she could just lock herself in the bathroom at the house and cry until the pain went away and Kim returned. It was not that Shego was not enough or that she did not love Shego because she did, but they were trio and with Kim gone, they felt broken. They were incomplete.

-8-8-8-8-

Kim could relate to the broken feeling. Ever since she left, all she did was stay in her room, curled up in a fetal position on her bed. She did not feel motivated to do anything, not showering, drinking, or eating. She just lay there, trying to will the agony of separation to abandon her body. Instead, she just felt worse with every second that passed. It was incredible in her opinion because every time she thought she could not feel any worse, a second later she was proven wrong.

It was not helping matters that she imagined Bonnie and Shego getting along well without her. Her mind betrayed her by making her think they were quite happy she was gone. They were probably doing all sorts of romantic things now, like going out to dinner, or dancing, or even staying in, but taking baths together since two people could fit in the bathtub. And, things like that made her want to cry, but she could not. She had exhausted her tears the first day of being away from them.

She dared not go to work now that she was not with her girlfriends anymore. She did not want to see how happy Shego was, even though she wanted to be happy for them. They deserved to be happy. Maybe one day she would be able to actually feel that and then she could return to work.

She did not feel up to teaching any classes now, anyway. She did not feel up to moving. Turning over was a chore. Breathing took so much effort. For a while, she had stopped blinking. It was just too much work. She felt worthless now. She could not do anything, but lie there and feel the ninth circle of Hell inside of her every waking moment and sleeping did not cure her ills in any manner.

She had nightmares that starred her former girlfriends, showing how great their lives were now that she was gone. Scenes that made her believe she should have done them both a favor a long time ago and walked out that door. Terrible images and words that made her wake up due to the fact that she could not even breathe any more because of how much it hurt.

Kim was not even allotted distractions from her own personal Hell. Sometimes, her mother came in, trying to help, but unwittingly making her pain increase exponentially. Her mother just reminded her that she had lost the two loves of her life when she showed up. Ann would offer her things that she did not want, like meals or a chance to talk. If Kim had the energy and desire to talk, she would just tell her mother to end her misery and give her a full frontal lobotomy with a tablespoon from the kitchen, a dirty one at that.

Ann was actually staring at Kim that very moment and Kim knew, but she did not make an effort to change anything for her mother’s irksome gaze. She did not feel like moving, so she just settled for ignoring the older woman. Her mother would eventually go away on her own, as she always did.

Blue eyes remained locked on the lump in the bed that was once Kim Possible. Ann was worried as Kim’s total inert behavior continued on. Okay, no, she was worried days ago. Now, she was scared.

When she had first expressed concern over Kim, James had eased her mind by telling her that Kim just had to work everything out of her system and she had to adjust back into a normal life. It made some sense a week ago when her daughter was not looking like an exhausted corpse, not to mention smelling like one, too. Now, Kim’s behavior just made her heart seize in her chest every time she walked by the room to see that her child had not moved at all and she knew Kim was not sleeping. It was like she was catatonic.

As Ann watched Kim from the doorway, tears slowly fell from her eyes without her knowledge. They were not tears for the present, but for the past. She knew what it looked like when parents had lost their child through fault of their own and it looked like her daughter.

The neurosurgeon never talked about it, but she had an older sister, stress on the “had” part. Her sister was dead now and had been for longer than Kim had been alive. She had watched her own parents slowly destroy her sister’s dreams, which in turn destroyed her sister. She remembered how her older sister faded away in every way possible, losing weight, lower grades before dropping out of college altogether, withdrawing from not only the family, but the whole world until she just decided that she had enough of their parents tearing apart everything she ever wanted or did. Her sister had not even bothered to leave a note, just climbing into a tub full of hot water one day and slit her wrists to take the pain away. Her parents never took responsibility, always swearing they only wanted the best for their daughters and they pretended like they did not know what would make her do such a thing. Ann broke off all contact with her parents after that, going to live with her grandmother until she was of legal age to be on her own.

James might not be able to see it because he did not know what it looked like, but she did. She knew all too well. He did not know what could happen because he had never witnessed it. The possibility never even entered his mind and she could not fault him for that. But, she had considered and she needed to step in now. She did not feel comfortable with the idea of waiting a second longer for Kim to “work it out of her system.” No, damn that. Definitely damn that.

Ann took brave steps into the room. Ever since Kim had returned, it felt like there were toxic vibes radiating from the room warning all to stay out if they valued their lives. The doctor went right to Kim’s still form and shocked the younger redhead by embracing her. Kim actually cringed from the contact. If she felt like speaking, she would have told her mother not to touch her. It sickened her.

“Sweetheart, I’m so sorry you’re going through this. Watching you like this, you of all people, tells me how much Bonnie and Shego mean to you. I can’t, no, I won’t just sit here and watch you waste away just because you were doing something different from the norm. I don’t understand how or why your relationship works with three people in it, but if it works for you, I promise not to judge you over it. You don’t have to lie here like this anymore. You can go back home. I’ll talk to your father, just don’t be like this anymore,” Ann begged as new tears spilled from her eyes. Those tears were for the present and out of fear that she had committed a horrible crime against her own child.

Had she destroyed her daughter like her parents had her sister? And for what, she asked herself. For something that was not even her business, she decided. Bonnie and Shego made her Kimmie happy and that was what should have mattered, not that fact that it was against the norm. What the hell did the norm mean anyway? It was not important. It was nowhere near as important to her as her daughter was and she now refused to let it take her child from her.

“I’ll even drive you back home right now,” Ann offered in a hopeful voice when Kim remained silent to her words. She wanted Kim to speak to her now, to give her some sign that everything was going to be okay and that she did not have to worry about the worst of all possible things happening to her only daughter.

Kim did not react in any way other than crying herself. Silent tears slid down her face and disappeared into her bedclothes. It was too late to go back now, she convinced herself. Her lovers were probably getting along swimmingly without her and they were probably more than happy that she was gone. They would not want her back and she would not try. She did not want to ruin the good thing they undoubtedly had now. She could not take that away from them, no matter how much it hurt. _If you love something, let it go_.

“Kimmie, sweetie, what’s wrong? Why are you crying? Why won’t you say something? Come on, get up and I’ll drive you right now,” Ann implored her daughter and Kim wept harder, but did not make a sound while doing it.

Ann was in a panic. Maybe her child had done something rash already. She stood up and moved Kim onto her back to examine her for any kinds of self-inflicted wounds or injuries. All she saw was the same skeletal form that had been curled up in a ball seconds before. So, what was Kim crying about?

“Oh, god, Kimmie, you didn’t take something, did you?” Ann pled to know. What if Kim had tried to overdose on something? Okay, she had to get her daughter to the hospital.

Ann summoned a strength that she did not even know she had to pick Kim up. The hero did not resist in any way, which only made her mother think she had taken some kind of drug. She carried Kim down the stairs and out the house on her back. She propped Kim up in the car like a crash-test dummy complete with seatbelt and hurried to the hospital, not thinking about what it would like for her, a well-respected surgeon, to come in and informing the doctors she believed her daughter had overdosed on something. If she had thought about it, she would not have even cared. All that mattered was making sure Kim had not done something drastic and saving her if she had done something like that.

-8-8-8-8-

Shego made dinner that night. Bonnie had a headache, and had had one for the past few days, so she had gone straight to bed when they got in. She knew Shego was going to wake her up to eat something because Shego had been doing that since she started going to bed early. Most of the time, she never felt like eating, but her pale girlfriend was always so insistent.

Shego really wished she could just fall in the bed like Bonnie did, but someone had to feed both of them. She never made much, though. She did not have the energy for making anything relatively complex. She often made sandwiches or soup, just something that was really quick. For breakfast, they did not even try, leaving the house with breakfast bars in their hands more often than not. It was the best they could do at the moment, even though they did not even really feel like doing that.

Shego doubted she had ever felt so depressed in all her life. She never really had anything to be too down about. Yeah, there were a couple of times in her life where all she could think about was “life sucks,” but she had people that were there for her, people who helped bring her out of the funk. Other than those times, though, life had always been pretty good.

She had a good upbringing with insane parents and, even though her brothers got on her nerves, she secretly loved them as much as she loved her parents. Sure, she had walked out on them when they were a superhero team, but she blamed that on Hego more than herself. He needed to stop being so damn self-righteous all of the damn time. She thought her little brothers would have walked, too, but she neglected to take into account there was a brotherly bond that she obviously missed out on. It was then she had realized she was now alone in life, which was a crushing thought, especially at the time because they had been a close family, doing everything together, which was how they talked her into being on the superhero team in first place. That did not even compare to what she felt now.

It did not help matters that she was worried about Bonnie. She knew Kim was Bonnie’s first love, so Kim walking out had to be the equivalent of pulling Bonnie’s heart out with tweezers through her throat while she was awake for the whole process. The eternal headache Bonnie suffered from was due to Kim leaving them and she could understand that. She actually wished she could just fall apart from Kim leaving.

Kim was not her first love, but she counted Kim as her first _true_ love and Bonnie was her second. She would do anything for either of them, _anything_. She wanted to give them everything. She needed them to feel precious and loved. That was her job. She had failed. Twice. She did not know what to do.

With Kim being gone and Bonnie being absolutely distraught over it just tore into Shego to the point where she contemplated calling her mother for assistance. Not help in getting Kim back, but help in taking care of her and Bonnie so she could just collapse in bed and never get up again. What else was there to do after failing the two people who mattered the most after all?

Bonnie was such a wreck and she hated going to work now, having to pretend things in her life were fine. She did not do well in pretending. People at her firm knew they had better enter her office at their own risk and with important business matters or else the legal rottweiler would tear into them with a vengeance. She was in such a bad way that she recognized she was being burdensome to Shego, but did not care. She thought as long as she seemed helpless, Shego would take care of her and she would at least still have Shego.

She had lost more than just her first love. She had lost the first person to support her in doing the things that she wanted to do. She had lost the first person to ever believe in her just because of the fact that “you’re Bonnie and you can do anything when you put you mind to it,” were Kim’s exact words. She had lost the first person to accept her for who she was based on her personality, not on what she owned or who she knew, but for solely and purely who she was. Part of her wished Kim had killed her before leaving instead of taking the world away from her when she exited the house that night. Another part of her thought that was stupid because then Shego would have been left all alone and she did not want that for her pale lover.

Shego was distracted from her task as she heard a knock on the door. She wondered who the hell it was that was bothering them at such a late hour; a late hour to them now in their totally warped minds was eight in the evening an beyond. She grumbled every swear word that came to mind, and made some up, as she made the short trip to the front door. She yanked it open, hoping to scare away whatever irksome visitor they had. She was irate to see Ann Possible standing in front of her. She was about to let out some choice words to Ann and then she noticed that the doctor carried Kim on her back.

“What the hell is going on?” Shego said for lack of a better opening line. She was not too sure what to make of the sight.

Ann was not sure where to begin explaining. She had been thankful to find out at the hospital that Kim had not taken any pills or anything. They had tried to keep Kim overnight for observation, which Ann understood. Kim was obviously under nourished and sickly. The hero was so out of it that it did not even enter her mind to protest. Ann obviously did not agree with leaving Kim there for the night. It would not help, after all. She wanted to get Kim back where she belonged as soon as possible, before something tragic happened.

Kim had not noticed where they were going when they left the hospital and she evidently did not know where they were right now. She would have put up a fuss if she was aware, but she was currently sleeping. Well, to be more accurate, she had just passed out, as she had been doing since she left her lovers. It counted as sleep, Kim guessed anyway.

“Please, take Kimmie back,” Ann opted to beg.

“What?” Shego arched an eyebrow. She was not following. Everything seemed so off.

“She needs you and Bonnie. You have to take her back and forgive her for leaving. If you don’t…” Ann trailed off. She did not even want to think about what might happen. She could not even let that be an option. 

“Does she want to come back?” Shego inquired, folding her arms across her chest.

They could not take Kim back if she did not want to. After all, they had pled with her to stay before and still she walked out on them, spouting nonsense about being in their way. She had even ignored Bonnie’s tears, which Shego thought had to take incredible willpower from Kim because even she could not resist when Bonnie was crying. Kim must have made up her mind about this a while ago and, if she had not changed her mind, then they could not do anything.

“She does,” Ann answered wholeheartedly. Of course Kim wanted to come back! She would not have done this to herself if she desired to be separated from the pair.

Shego was not sure what to say. Kim had left so suddenly and now she was being brought back on her mother’s back. Hell, she was being brought back by her mother period. It was weird, but Shego was willing to bet she knew a way to make things infinitely better in the house.

“Could you take her upstairs and just lay her in the bed?” Shego requested. She doubted she could carry Kim if she wanted to. She was not at the peak of her physical strength at the moment. Bonnie would undoubtedly light up when Kim was placed next to her.

“All right,” Ann agreed.

Ann stepped deeper into house while Shego shut the door. Ann took a moment to look at Shego and noticed that physically speaking, she looked drained and exhausted. It seemed like she had lost weight, too, which she had. Maybe she needed Kim as much as Kim needed her and Bonnie, Ann considered as she got to the stairs.

Shego watched as the doctor climbed the stairs. She was not sure what prompted Ann to bring Kim back, but she felt better already just from Kim’s presence. Having Kim in the house took away that feeling of being broken. That nutty little hero better stay, too, if she knew what was good for her, Shego thought. She did not want to hear any more crazy talk that involved Kim thinking it was best for her to leave them ever again.

Ann hit the upstairs and saw that there were four rooms up there. She had never actually been upstairs in the house before, even though she had been to the place on a few occasions. She checked the room where the door was open, but she saw a lump in the bed and for some reason thought Shego did not mean that room because the bed was occupied. As she was about to go check another room, her mind pointed out that if a couple shared a bed, it was likely that a threesome did, too. So, Shego probably wanted her to put Kim down in the bed that was occupied.

The neurosurgeon entered the bedroom and approached the lump in the bed that she guessed was Bonnie. She did not bother turning on the light because she did not have the free hand to do so; she needed both of her arms to keep Kim’s weight balanced on her back. She eased Kim down onto the bed, hoping not to disturb Kim or Bonnie, who was asleep as well. Bonnie stirred, though.

“Sweetie, I’m not hungry right now,” Bonnie mumbled, half-asleep still. She thought the movement on the bed was Shego trying to wake her up for food, which she was not in the mood for.

Ann did not respond since Bonnie was not speaking to her and she knew that. She settled Kim onto an open area of the large bed. Well, maybe it just appeared large because Kim and Bonnie were rather petite young women. She was about to make her way out of the room when the light was suddenly turned on. She turned her attention to the doorway, which was where Shego was standing with her hand still on the switch.

“Push her closer,” Shego instructed the doctor.

“Closer?” Ann echoed, glancing back at the bed.

Shego nodded. “Closer.”

Ann did not argue and moved to push Kim closer to Bonnie without waking the pair. Shego kept telling her closer until Kim was practically lying on Bonnie. Shego thought that was close enough. Ann was not sure if it was a good idea for two ill people to be lying on either other, but she decided against saying anything.

“So, what made you change your mind?” Shego asked Ann curiously.

“I don’t want to lose her,” Ann answered, glancing down at her frail-looking child.

“We’re the ones that lost her. You had her back,” the former villainess pointed out, sneering as she spoke.

“No, we didn’t have her back. No one had her. Look, I’m not going to pretend that I know how this works—” the doctor was cut off.

“Funny, you sure seemed to think you knew how it worked before,” the pale woman interjected bitterly.

“I made a mistake,” Ann said forcefully, as if she was insulting Shego with the statement.

Shego shrugged, rather nonchalantly in fact. “Glad you could admit it. At least you came around and you brought her back,” she said, which shocked the redhead. Shego did not have the energy left in her body to be totally upset and snarky. Besides, Ann had brought Kim back, which was what mattered at the moment.

“No smart comment? No taunting because I admitted to a mistake?” the doctor asked in disbelief. Who was that woman and what had she done with Shego?

“Hey, my mother didn’t take too well to this shit either. Sometimes, we even look at ourselves and wonder what the hell we’re doing. So, like I said, at least you came around and you brought her back,” Shego replied.

“When did you get so understanding?” Ann asked as they exited the room to let the younger pair sleep.

“When I got involved with two women,” Shego remarked. “If it makes you feel any better, I’ve got no desire to hurt Kim, so I definitely won’t try to kill her. I was never really trying to kill her. Hell, I’m probably so out of shape now, it’s kind of laughable that I would try to seriously fight her. I’m different now,” she stated soundly.

“I figured as much once I stopped and thought about it. I mean, why would Kim want to be around someone that wanted to kill her? What happened to you, if I may ask?” Ann inquired.

“I almost died,” Shego answered as if it was obvious. A surefire way to make someone reexamine her life would be to come very close to killing her and Shego was walking testimony of that. She supposed that only being blown up as she had been would get people to understand.

“Is that it? You just suddenly changed because you almost died?”

“The man that claimed we were ‘an evil family’ tried to blow me the fuck up, twice actually. I didn’t know it at the time, but I knew that if I stuck around him any longer I might be counting my remaining lifetime in days. And after that incident, I just felt like that with every ‘evil genius.’ I never really wanted to take over the world anyway. What the hell would I do with the world?” Shego remarked with a laugh. She had actually never thought about it when she was “evil,” but she had no clue what she would do with the world if she had it.

“Well, since you don’t have the world, just take care of those two,” Ann commented.

“You have my word on that and my word has some creditability lately,” Shego replied and they stood by the front door for a few seconds in silence. “Is your husband all right with this?” she asked because he was noticeably absent.

“He will be when I get through with him,” Ann promised. She knew she was being much too confident, though. James had really drawn a line in the sand on the issue. While he was open-minded to many scientific issues, it would seem that social norms were the proper way to go as far as he was concerned. She could see where he got that from since his mother preached tradition, even though she damn sure did not practice it.

Shego smirked. “Don’t hurt the man too much. I hear my mother has plans to do that,” she quipped and she spoke the truth. The last time she spoke with Isabel, her mother was not pleased with how the rocket scientist treated her.

Ann’s face scrunched up. “Plans?”

“Apparently, he said some things that she didn’t agree with. You might want to give him a warning or something because I think he’s brought the wrath of Hell upon himself and I’m serious.”

“I’ll be sure to tell him. Is it all right if I come by and check on Kim?” Ann requested. She felt like it was a strange thing to ask, but she felt that it was the polite thing to do after everything.

“Of course. Kim would probably love that. Besides, my mother comes over regardless of the fact that we don’t want her here, so if she can come by unwanted, then someone like you is more than welcomed,” Shego replied. She knew Kim would probably need to be convinced that everything was okay anyway and that would probably take a while, so visits from her mother would more than likely help the process along.

“Take care of her,” Ann pled.

“I will,” Shego vowed.

Ann walked out of the door and Shego locked it behind her. Then she made her way back up to the bedroom. She looked down at her two lovers, both looking like shadows of their former selves. She knew that she did not look any better and she really did not. She lay down behind Kim, so the redhead was in between her and Bonnie. Lying like they always did felt like coming into a warm home after being out in a blinding, freezing blizzard for the whole night. She fell asleep, even though she was all too aware there were still problems that needed to be worked out. For the moment though, all was right in the world.

-8-8-8-8-

Ann tried her best to explain to her husband why she had let Kim go back to Bonnie and Shego, but James was not listening. He refused to believe Kim might have ended up doing something drastic.

“Kim’s not the sort of person to do that and it would never cross her mind,” James declared.

“You’d be surprised what people will do when they feel like there’s no way to escape the hurt inside of them,” Ann argued.

“She was going to be fine. She just needed time. She was getting it all out of her system.” He did not even want to acknowledge that Kim was in serious pain while she had been at their home, even though it was obvious. He apparently was only seeing what he wanted to see, though.

“She’ll be fine now,” Ann said. He spoke about Kim’s breakup like she was in detox. People did not just “get” love out of their system.

He shook his head. “This is wrong. It’s all wrong. Kim would have been fine in a few days if you just left her here, where she needed to be. Once she worked all of that craziness out of her system, she would’ve been fine.” He stayed true to his belief that Kim was just working it all out of her system and that she would have straightened herself out eventually.

“No, she wouldn’t have. She’ll be fine now and we won’t be interfering with her relationship anymore,” Ann stated soundly.

His eyes went wide and then he scowled, seriously scowled. Ann was not sure the last time she saw him look like that. “Relationship? You honestly believe that’s a relationship?”

“It is and it’s none of our business, so no more interfering or commenting on it. Is that understood?” She glared at him.

“You actually support this?”

“I’m fine with Kim being with Bonnie and Shego. It makes her happy.”

James’ face twisted into some terrible version of itself and he balled both hands together. His body shook for a moment and Ann was pretty certain he growled. He actually stormed out of the house. She had never seen him so angry before in all of her life, but then again, he had never been so angry with her in all his life either.

He could not believe Ann was going to encourage their daughter to do such inappropriate things. But, then again, he supposed he should not be too surprised. She was the one who accepted Kim going out with Bonnie in the first place and had talked him into accepting it too, even though he believed a proper relationship was supposed to be between a man and a woman. Now, he had to deal with her more than likely trying to talk him into accepting that thing their daughter was calling a relationship when it was nothing but a mockery and perversion of real relationships.

He believed part of society was built upon the fact that relationships were between couples, not trios. Breaking that tradition was taking a crack at society in his opinion. If everyone wanted to break socially established traditions, the world would break apart and be left in chaos, as far as he was concerned anyway. People needed to follow the rules to keep order, which was the reason for rules being there in the first place.

Ann was not too sure what she was going to do about James. She knew it would be hard for her to change his mind. After all, it was an idea that had been in his head since he was a child more than likely. It was hard, if not impossible, to change such ideas in a person. She would try, though. Kim was not looking to lose James, even though she did want to and need to stay with Bonnie and Shego. Ann just wished he would look at things in a practical and logical manner to see that there was nothing really wrong with the girls being involved with each other.

-8-8-8-8-

Bonnie woke up because she had tried turning in the bed and found something was obstructing her movement. She opened her eyes to find out what it was and she knew for a fact that she was dreaming. She started weeping because of the dream. It was not fair that her mind would make her think that Kim was in the bed with them.

“Demon child, what’s wrong?” Shego asked when she heard the noise. She knew Bonnie’s cry pretty well by now. She reached over and caressed Bonnie’s arm.

“Why do I keep having dreams like this?” Bonnie wondered aloud.

“Oh,” Shego muttered. She knew what was wrong just from that question. Bonnie had woken up plenty of times in the past thinking that Kim was with them again because she had a dream, so now she thought reality was the dream.

“I want her to come back to us,” Bonnie wept.

“She is back, love.” Shego nudged Kim into Bonnie, who screamed in delight so loudly that she woke Kim up.

“Baby!” Bonnie through her arms around the redhead and held tight. Shego mimicked the move, except not holding on to crushing-point like the lawyer was doing.

“What’s going on?” Kim murmured in a very confused, groggy tone.

“You’re home! Oh, thank god you’re home!” Bonnie shouted to the heavens and then she began showering Kim’s face with sweet kisses.

“Wait… what am I doing here?” Kim asked, looking around almost as if she did not recognize the place. Bonnie continued kissing her, even as she moved her head.

“It’s okay, Princess. Your mother brought you back and she doesn’t care if you stay. She’s all right with it and you are staying,” Shego commented, snuggling into Kim’s shoulder blade.

“I’m staying?” Kim echoed as if she did not understand. Why would she be staying? She thought they would be happy that she had left before.

“Please stay. We’re miserable without you, baby. We all belong together. It doesn’t work with just two of us. It’s got to be the three of us together, loving and supporting each other. So, you have to stay,” Bonnie implored her, holding her tightly, as if trying to prevent an escape.

“My mom was okay with it?” Kim asked, squinting a little. She vaguely recalled her mother saying something to that effect and then driving her to the hospital, but she could not totally recall. At the moment, just being near her loves felt so good, that even if the memories of her mother were a dream, she was willing to believe it happened.

“Your mom is totally okay with it. If you don’t believe me, call her right now,” Shego replied. She did not want Kim to have any doubts about being home with them right now, so she would go get the phone and Kim could make the call. She would see that it was all right and they could all be together.

“No… no, I don’t want to get up,” the redhead replied, settling into her place. She felt like she was where she belonged and she was not sure how long people spent looking for some place like that, but she found her place and she was staying.

Shego smiled. “Good. I’d hate to lose my pillow, after all,” she joked.

“Um… are you guys sure you want me back?” Kim inquired in a slightly frightened tone. What if they did not want her back, after all?

“Don’t ask stupid questions, Kimmie,” they answered simultaneously.

Kim did not take offense. “Sorry I ask,” she replied. They all cuddled close together, reveling in being together again. It was how they were supposed to be, they were certain of that.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: the trio becomes front page news.


	8. Purgatory

I don’t own these characters.

Thanks to Nuki Mouse for the ideas behind this chapter. The Humbug, the beginning of this is just for you.

A/N: I just need to remind you guys that this is an independent fic, so when I bring up Shego’s family, it’s not the same family from the Walking the Line saga, even though Isabel is in that story, too.

8: Purgatory

Bonnie never saw it coming. Shego could understand that considering the fact that she did not see Bonnie coming. It did not even matter who missed what because the blow landed squarely on a very unintended mark. The hit could not be cleaner if Shego did mean it. Bonnie’s head snapped to the side before she ended up being laid out on the mats.

“Motherfucker,” Bonnie muttered as she hit the canvas. It was then her pale girlfriend realized just what happened. Shego gasped in horror.

“Oh my fucking god, babe, I’m so sorry!” Shego apologized as she fell to Bonnie’s side.

Shego had just accidentally punched Bonnie in the face. The lawyer rolled around on the mat and held her eye. She breathed in a hissing inhale to cut back the terrible pain that she was feeling at the moment. Shego gathered her turquoise-eyed lover up in her arms while apologizing over and over again.

“Oh god, love, I’m so damn sorry,” Shego said again while standing up. She took Bonnie into the back to get a look at her eye.

Kim was going to ask what was going on as her lovers passed her, but she did not say anything, as they seemed to be having an emergency at the moment. The three were at their martial arts school. There were no classes being held at the moment since it was past closing time. They were still there because they were trying to get into the habit of working out a little bit after work to include Bonnie. They taught Bonnie some moves, so she could defend herself if they were not around to do that for her. The hope was that eventually Bonnie would be able to hold her own in a real fight if necessary.

Shego had actually been teaching Bonnie before the incident that just happened. But, Bonnie stepped away to take a phone call and Shego decided to do some shadowboxing. She happened to turn around at the wrong moment, which was when Bonnie came back, and that was when Shego’s fist made the acquaintance of Bonnie’s eye. Shego continued to apologize to the very dazed Bonnie.

Kim was going to go see what was going on with her lovers, but then she noticed someone at the door. Well, actually there was someone at the front window, peeping in instead of knocking. She went to go see what the person wanted. After all, they could always use new students.

“Hi, can I help you?” Kim greeted the person as she opened the front door.

Before her stood a young man who appeared about her age. He looked like a surfer with messy dirty blonde hair that fell to his shoulders. He had a stud in his lip. He smiled in a rather friendly manner and his hazel eyes sparkled with kindness. He was dressed in baggy dark blue jeans with a zebra-stripped shirt that was sky blue and white. He looked like the type of person who would be interested in studying with Shego.

“Hey, my name is Sherm Hamilton. I’m looking for the people who run this place,” he informed her. His voice matched his expression, sounding very friendly.

“Well, I’m one of them. Kim Possible,” she introduced herself in a professional tone.

“Cool,” he said, offering his hand for her to shake. She wasted no time taking his hand in hers. They exchanged a firm, but pleasant handshake.

“So, what can I do for you?” she inquired with an eyebrow arched and a small smile of her own.

“Oh, I’m from _Kick_ magazine,” he answered with a sheepish laugh. He could not believe that he forgot to include that bit of information.

Kim’s mouth dropped open and her eyes went wide. _No way_. “No kidding,” she muttered. _Kick_ was one of the most popular martial arts magazines in the world. She wondered what he was doing there.

“No kidding,” he said with another smile and he showed her his identification to prove that he was who he claimed to be.

“Wow,” Kim mumbled in a rather awed voice. She felt speechless, unable to think of anything to say beyond wow.

“So, I’m here to talk to you about the school and what you do and teach,” he reported, making circular hand movements for no other reason aside from the fact that he sometimes got caught up talking with his hands.

The redheaded hero was about to respond, but she heard yelling from the back. Well, shrieking would probably be a more accurate term. She glanced back there and wondered what her lovers were into now. The shouting did not sound like their usual arguments though, so she decided to go check it out.

“Excuse me for a moment,” Kim said to their guest. “Um… feel free to sit down.” She motioned to a wall on the far end of the room that had a row of chairs to sit in. For a moment, she wished they had better chairs, but they would have to make do.

Sherm took her up on the offer. He sat down while she retreated into the back to see what was going on. Kim gasped because the first sight that she saw was Bonnie’s eye, which was bruising heavily already. Bonnie held an emergency icepack in her hand, but she did not have it pressed against her injured eye.

“Bonnie, what the hell happened to your eye?” Kim inquired, falling to her lover’s side immediately.

“She hit me!” Bonnie hollered, sounding as if she was a tattling child. She even pointed a well-manicured finger at Shego.

“I didn’t mean it!” the pale woman insisted, flinging her arms out to the sides, like that made her more believable. She was just a bit animated now because Bonnie made it seem like she clocked the lawyer on purpose and with malicious intent. She would never do something like that to Bonnie!

“Like hell you didn’t!” Bonnie barked, trying her best to not cry, but she was doing a poor job at holding it in. Tears fell from her good eye. Her whole head hurt.

“Oh god, no, don’t cry, lovely,” Shego pled while falling to her knees in front of Bonnie. She put her hands around Bonnie’s waist and rubbed her back. The tanned female turned away. “Demon child, please,” the green-skinned woman begged for forgiveness.

Shego felt horrible and Bonnie was not helping by thinking she had hit her on purpose. She wished Bonnie would just believe her that it was an accident and she was extremely sorry for what she had done. It hurt to know that her lover thought the worst of her immediately when it was really just a mistake.

Kim could not believe what she was seeing or hearing. Shego had hit Bonnie in the face? And Bonnie believed it was on purpose? Whoa, she hoped that was just the heat of the moment and the pain talking or else there were some major trust issues that Bonnie needed to work out with Shego.

“Baby,” Kim said as she put her arm around Bonnie’s shoulders. She did not want to disrupt Shego’s connection to Bonnie at the waist.

Bonnie focused on Kim as best she could through her one good eye while the other one was rapidly swelling and closing completely. Shego looked back and forth between the both of them. The eldest of the trio hoped Kim did not believe she had done such a terrible thing on purpose. Kim reached out and caressed the side of Bonnie’s face, running gentle fingertips over Bonnie’s cheek.

“Baby, calm down,” the redhead said in a soothing tone.

“But…” Bonnie sniffled, trying to stop her tears from falling. She hated crying, but damn it, it hurt a lot. Kim knew from experience how much it hurt when Shego struck you.

“I know it hurts and I know you’re upset about it, but you know as well as I do that Shego would never hit you on purpose,” Kim said in an understanding, yet logical tone.

“She did,” Bonnie insisted through her tears. She sniffled and that made her eye throb.

“No, you know she didn’t. I mean, look at her,” Kim instructed Bonnie and she motioned to Shego.

Shego looked on the verge of tears herself. Her mouth trembled, like she wanted to say something, but nothing would come out. She even sniffled. Kim wondered if she would have to embrace Shego next and keep her from having a mental breakdown.

“That’s not the face of a woman that hit you on purpose,” Kim told Bonnie.

“I didn’t. I swear,” the former thief persisted with vigor when Bonnie graced her with a glance. “I didn’t know you were coming back over, I swear. I’m so sorry, really.”

Bonnie did not respond, but she did not turn away. Shego took the icepack from her and held it to Bonnie’s eye for her. Bonnie continued crying because her eye did hurt like hell and she pushed herself into Shego’s arms, showing she had let go of the ridiculous notion that Shego had hit her on purpose. It was just a heat of the moment thought that was coupled with the throbbing agony in her eye.

“I’m so sorry, demon child,” Shego apologized again while returning the embrace from Bonnie. She continued to hold the icepack on Bonnie’s eye, too. She placed a gentle kiss to Bonnie’s forehead and then turned her attention to Kim and mouthing “thank you” to the redhead.

Kim only smiled. It was no big to her to settle things between her lovers. She hoped Bonnie’s eye did not look as bad as she thought it was going to look, though. Bonnie had to go to work in the morning. She did not even want to think about what people might end up saying if they saw Bonnie with a shiner and she was not sure how Bonnie would explain it.

“Um… not to sound insensitive or anything like that, but there’s a guy out there from _Kick_ magazine. He wants to talk to us about the school,” Kim said to Shego.

“ _Kick_ magazine?” Shego echoed in a puzzle voice. Why would someone from such a big-shot magazine want to talk to them about their little, rinky-dink school? Oh, she knew the answer to that. “Damn it, Mommy,” she muttered to herself, shaking her head. She knew Isabel had pulled a few strings more than likely, trying to get their school some recognition.

“You want to talk to him?” Kim asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be out there in a second. You go keep him company,” Shego replied. She had something more important to do, after all.

Kim nodded and gave Bonnie another look. Bonnie was curled into Shego, as if trying to seek relief in her body. She left Shego with Bonnie and returned to Sherm. He was staring around the school from his seat. She suddenly wished they had stuff on the walls or something, anything that would make it look like they had some substance to their school. Unfortunately, they did not have much as the school was rather “rinky-dink,” as Shego said.

“Mister Hamilton,” Kim said to call attention to herself.

“Whoa, call me Sherm. It’s the best name I got,” he remarked with a smile as he turned his attention back to her.

“Okay, and you can call me Kim,” she replied.

“No problem on that. So, where’s your partner? I heard two people ran this place. I also heard you do it well,” he commented.

Kim blushed a bit from the compliment. “We had a little situation. She’ll be out here in a moment. Is there anything I can do while we wait for her?” she asked politely.

“Well, I guess you can tell me about the school for the most part, even though I wanted to talk to you together, make this like an interview along with an article on your school,” he explained.

Kim nodded. “You can still do that. She’ll be out here in a little while.”

“Okay, then, please, tell me all about the place.”

She told him about the school as best she could while waiting for Shego to come out to the front. She started off by explaining what kind of students they had. She talked about her classes mostly, even though she brought up the forms Shego taught to her students. She explained they did not really teach one style of kung-fu, but blends that they used when they were fighting. Their students seemed to like their styles.

As she went into more details about the students, trying her best to include Shego’s students in the mix, even though she did not know much about them, she noticed Shego. Kim finished a sentence before turning to acknowledge Shego, who she just knew was coming her way, even though she had her back facing the direction Shego came from. The former thief walked over to the pair and was set to introduce herself, but Sherm beat her to it. He beat her to it in a way that she did not like either.

“You must be Sheshona,” Sherm said.

Shego was so stunned to hear her real name that she could not even respond. She sort of just froze in place with her mouth hanging open and her eyebrows bent in. Kim had to hold in a chuckle. She could tell from the look in Shego’s eyes that the pale woman was cursing someone out mentally. Kim suspected it was Sherm, but it was actually Isabel. Shego disliked it when someone knew her real name and she was not the one who told that person.

“My mother sent you, didn’t she?” Shego inquired with a growl.

“Well, if your mother is Isabel—” Sherm could not even finish his sentence.

Shego held up her hand. “No, don’t even say her fucking name. I can’t believe she’d just spring this shit on us out of the blue,” she huffed, folding her arms across her chest. “Well, no, I can believe it,” she grumbled now that she thought about it. This was exactly like something her mother would do.

Shego was more irked that her mother told the people at _Kick_ magazine her real name more than anything else. The school could use such great publicity, but no one needed to know what her real name was unless she was the one informing them. She would have to chew her mother out about this later.

“Should I come back another time then?” Sherm inquired curiously because of Shego’s hostile statement. Suddenly, he did not feel so welcomed at the small school.

“No, it’s fine,” Shego replied, trying to rein in her annoyance. It was not his fault anyway. It was her mother’s fault.

“That’s incredible that your mother—” Sherm started to say, but Shego cut him off.

“No, no, no, I don’t want to hear anything about that damned woman. You bring her up, I’ll throw you out,” she stated quite seriously while motioning to the front window to let him know where he would be exiting the building if she had to throw him out.

Sherm could tell she was promising him that and she meant it in a literal fashion, not figuratively. He decided to go on with his interview. They sat in the row of chairs by the wall, arranging a little triangle together. Kim and Shego sat next to each other and faced Sherm.

Part way through the interview, Bonnie wandered out to the front, not enjoying being alone in the back with a bumping headache and pained eye. She had the icepack still pressed to her eye and went over to her lovers. The third person surprised Sherm.

“Oh, this is our silent partner, Bonnie Rockwaller. She keeps us from going out of business,” Kim remarked when Bonnie came over. She moved her chair over a little and grabbed one for Bonnie. The attorney sat in between her lovers.

“Pleased to meet you. I’m Sherm Hamilton,” he said, extending his hand to Bonnie. He made sure to offer his left hand since her right hand was occupied. They shook hands.

“Sherm?” Bonnie echoed in a low voice. She had never heard such a name before and she really hoped she never did again. It was not pleasant sounding to her ears.

“My real name’s Sherman. Would you want to tell that to people and then have them call you that?” he remarked with an amused smile.

Shego definitely could understand that since she did not want people calling her “Sheshona.” So, now, the trio spoke back and forth with Sherm, answering his questions for the most part. They did not speak for that long since the ladies wanted to get home soon and Sherm had just kind of popped up on them. He understood.

“You could come back tomorrow. It’ll be a lot easier,” Kim said.

“No problem. I’m sorry I just showed up like this. I just got excited when I got handed the story,” he explained.

“Excited?” Shego echoed. What was there to be excited for in covering a school that was practically nothing?

He scoffed. “Seriously? I’m standing in the school run by Kim Possible and the daughter of…” He trailed off as Shego glared at him. “You think _Kick_ doesn’t know who you guys are? Plus, I got invited some place recommended by she-who-will-not-be-named.”

Shego laughed. “Whatever.” He won her over the whole “she-who-will-not-be-named” thing. But, she was a little insulted that he clearly _did not_ know who she was. He seemed to think her claim to fame was falling out of her mother three decades ago.

“Please, feel free to come back tomorrow or however many days you need to finish your article,” Kim said.

“Is it all right with you guys if I take some pictures, too? I think it would help sell the school,” he requested.

“If you’re going to take pictures of us, let’s wait until Bonnie’s eye heals,” Shego suggested.

“I’d like at least one picture of all three of you. You seem like very close business associates and I really think it would be nice to show a group of women doing what you’re doing. I mean, you’re not just running a small business well, but it’s a martial arts school. I think this is something people need to see,” he told them.

“Then, please, come back,” Kim urged him. They politely ushered him out of the door after that.

Once Sherm took his leave, the ladies changed into their street clothes and locked up the school. It was a good thing they only took one car when they worked, so Bonnie did not have to drive home with her eye swollen shut. When they got home and settled in, Shego went back to apologizing for the accident. She even tried to make up for it by making Bonnie some tea and getting her fig newtons, which was something Kim typically did.

“Sweetheart, it’s all right,” Bonnie insisted, even though she liked Shego was fussing over her. She wished it was for another reason, though.

Shego did not pay her much mind. Bonnie only got Shego to stop when she put on the soap operas that they watched. Once the show was on, Shego stopped whatever she was doing and sat down on the sofa to watch. Bonnie cuddled into the older woman. They then realized they were missing someone.

“Kimmie, you still in the shower?” Shego hollered through the house.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Kim replied, knowing they were watching the soaps. She was actually not a fan, but she watched with them to be close with them.

The redhead joined them on the sofa, still toweling off her hair. She noticed her spot against Shego was taken, which did not bother her. She merely leaned against Bonnie. They were all content together, even though Bonnie’s eye still throbbed in pure agony. Shego took care of dinner that night to cut Bonnie a break, which did not bother Bonnie. Shego cooked rather well when she actually took the time to do it. Kim took care of Bonnie while Shego made their meal. They had a pretty quiet evening once Shego stopped apologizing every few minutes.

-*-(Next day)-*-

Bonnie frowned as she got off of the elevator to the floor her firm was located on. The expression on her face told everyone “ask about my eye and die a slow, painful, miserable death.” No one said anything with her around about the dark purple bruise around her swollen eye, but it quickly bred rumors. It rapidly got to the point where Bonnie was summoned by one of the named partners in the firm to talk about what happened to her, all before the lunch break.

“It was just an accident that happened in a self-defense course I’m taking,” Bonnie explained to her boss once he inquired about her eye.

“Okay, can’t have one of our best lawyers getting into barroom brawls or things like that,” the middle-aged man commented, his voice was not humorous, but it was not serious either.

“Barroom brawls?” Bonnie echoed as if she did not understand. She knew the chickens she worked with were squawking about her eye behind her back, but she did not think they would come up with something so outlandish. After all, did she look like the type to brawl in barrooms? Did she look like the type to hang out in barrooms?

“Or was it a street fight over a parking space?”

“It was nothing of the sort!” Bonnie huffed indignantly, squaring her shoulders. “It was merely an accident that happened in my self-defense class and nothing more.”

“Good to know. I was worried that maybe your boyfriend had crossed the line. Either way, that eye looks rather painful. Maybe you should take a couple of days off and let it clear up.”

“Yes, sir.” Bonnie knew she was actually being dismissed because he did not want clients coming in and seeing one of the firm’s leading attorneys, leading _female_ attorneys at that, sporting a terrible black eye. It just would not look good for the firm. She understood that.

The injured female did take some time off to let her eye heal. She continued to meet up with her lovers at their school at the end of the day because Sherm kept coming by to interview them. At first, Bonnie felt like she was imposing herself on her lovers’ venture, but they assured her they wanted her around because their school would not even exist if it was not for her. Sherm seemed to like speaking with all three of them, anyway.

Sherm seemed even more pleased when he saw that Bonnie’s eye was healed, so now he could take pictures of them all around the school. He was his own photographer, so they did not have to put up with anyone else being around them. He took a lot of pictures, especially when Kim and Shego taught their classes.

He spoke to some of their students, even Kim’s little ones, with their parents’ permission of course. He also spoke with the parents. Everyone seemed to love the teachers and the atmosphere of the school along with the lessons. He doubted he had ever run into such enthusiastic folks when it came to talking about their teachers, the teachers’ methods, and the lessons. He was glad he had gotten the assignment.

“Well, ladies, I’ve had a great time hanging out with you and interjecting myself into your lives, but this is the end of the road here,” Sherm commented. He was standing by the front door, about to depart.

“When should we expect to see the article?” Kim asked curiously. The trio had been kind enough to walk him to the door.

“Give it a couple of months. I’ll call you guys or maybe I’ll call Isabel—” Sherm started, but Shego cut him off, as he expected.

“Why the hell do you keep saying that woman’s damn name?” Shego huffed as if it pained her to hear her mother’s name.

He chuckled. “Sorry. So, I shouldn’t even bother calling she-who-will-not-be-named?”

“Yeah, don’t bother,” Shego stated.

“Either way, you guys’ll know when the article comes out,” he informed them with a smile.

They nodded and felt that was good enough. Sherm took his leave after bidding them farewell. The ladies got on with their usual lives while waiting to hear from Sherm. Bonnie was back at work and going strong, even though there were still rumors going around about how she got that black eye. Kim and Shego went on teaching their classes, even though some of their students were curious as to what happened to Sherm.

-*-(New day)-*-

Kim was about to go downstairs to get Shego, so they could meet Bonnie for lunch, but she was held up. The Kimmunicator went off. She reached into her pocket and gave Wade her usual greeting of “What’s the sitch?”

“You just got a hit on your site,” he told her.

“Something that needs my immediate attention?” she asked with a raised eyebrow. She hated when she had to run out on her girlfriends for missions. She felt like it sent the message that she did not care about them as much as she cared about being a hero, which was far from the case. They never thought that either, even when Bonnie hated her going on missions. They more concerned for her safety than anything else.

“No, actually. It’s a girl requesting you come speak at her high school in about a month. Some kind of awards thing and she feels like you would be a very appropriate speaker to push them,” he answered.

“Oh, that sounds nice. Can you do the scheduling and everything for me?” she requested in a polite tone.

“You know I can. I’ll get back to you with that. How’d things go with that guy from _Kick_ magazine?” he asked. He wanted to know what was going on in his friend’s life. The normal things, if being in a magazine could be considered normal.

“Everything went pretty good. He said he’ll call us when the article and everything came out. How’s everything going with you? GJ still trying to get you to work for them?” she countered.

“Man, the amount of money and equipment they’re tempting me with is just sick. I’m only human, Kim,” he replied with a laugh, which got a chuckle of out of her. He probably would never cave, as tempting as it was. He liked doing his own thing too much, like she did.

“Princess, what’s the hold up?” Shego hollered from downstairs.

“Oops, Wade, I’ve got to go. I’m getting in trouble,” Kim reported with a bright smile, especially for someone who was supposed to be in trouble.

“Don’t let Shego push you around too much,” Wade replied, laughing more as they disconnected the communication.

Wade did not know the nature of Kim’s relationship with Shego, but he knew they hung around each other lot. He figured they had a business relationship since they had the school together. He was not even sure how they had worked themselves into a relationship enough to open a school together and he never asked because he finally understood that everything in the world was not his business.

Kim ran downstairs and she left with Shego. They went to go have lunch with Bonnie as usual. Their lives did go on as normal, almost as if they forgot about Sherm even showing up.

-*-(New day)-*-

“Wow, Sherm, those are some nice photos you got there,” a young woman commented as she popped her head over his cubical divider. Sherm was going through his pictures from when he was at Kim and Shego’s school. He needed to figure out which ones he wanted to use to accompany his article.

“Yeah, that’s why it’s so hard to figure out which ones to use,” Sherm replied in an almost absent voice, like he hardly knew she was there.

“Whoa, do you know who that is?” the young woman asked when she caught sight of Shego in one of the pictures.

“Sheshona Go,” he answered in a distant tone, waving her off. He was not paying his coworker too much mind because he was really focused on his job. The editor had loved his article and it would be the main article in an upcoming issue if he could only get his pictures together. He was now really glad he had been given the assignment because he was certain it would advance his career, plus he was pretty sure he was going to be helping some ladies who he thought deserved it. That school needed some recognition from the way the students raved about it.

“You’re kidding, right?” she asked him in a deadpan tone. He really did not know who that was in the picture? She could not believe it. She guessed he never watched the news or anything when he was younger.

“Scary ass woman, but I hear her mother’s the same,” Sherm commented, waving her off again. He had never had the pleasure of meeting Isabel Go. His editor knew her and that was how Isabel had turned the magazine’s attention to her daughter’s school. But, he doubted Isabel could be as bad as her daughter was.

“Where’d you get these pictures?” the coworker inquired when she saw him put aside a picture of Shego with Kim. They were facing off to spar, but they were smiling like friends, she noted.

“Over at this new little school called the Enriching Green Lotus. It’s run by Kim Possible, Sheshona Go, and their silent partner, Bonnie Rockwaller,” he answered.

“You’re kidding, right?” she inquired in disbelief. Kim Possible had a school with Shego? He had to be lying, she thought.

“Nah, it’s really nice too, Tina. They need some press to get some people over there and they could get some junk on the walls,” he remarked with a chuckle. He really did think they needed things to hang on their walls, which he supposed would come when they started getting a steady flow of students.

His coworker, Tina, did not say anything further and disappeared back over the divider. Sherm did not think anything of it. He had his work ahead of him, after all, and he really needed to get it right. Not only could his career be made by the project, but if he got it wrong in someway, Shego might come after him and he really did not want to give her an excuse to do that.

Tina busied herself at her desk and pulling out her camera. She was willing to bet that a picture of the Kim Possible with the supposedly dead villainess Shego would be a good way to pick up some spare change, especially since they had a school together. She just knew she had to get some shots and it get them out before Sherm published his stuff in the upcoming magazine. So, the first chance she got, she was off to the Enriching Green Lotus.

Tina glanced into the window to see that Kim and Shego sparring with each other. Their students had gone home for the day and the place was empty. They seemed to be seriously going at it and Kim ended up pinning Shego. Kim grinned over Shego, rubbing in her victory as far as the older woman was concerned. Shego frowned. Was she still out of shape? She liked to think she was getting back into form, especially since she got Bonnie to stop trying to spoil her every single day.

Kim leaned down and kissed Shego to get her to stop scowling just because she got pinned. They were oblivious to their audience obviously and their audience was shocked. The reporter/spy was so stunned by what she just witness she did not even snap a picture. She at least had the presence of mind to remain quiet and out of sight, but that could have been survival instincts kicking in. Tina hoped and prayed to whatever divine being was listening that they did that again. She was pretty sure that a picture like that would sell for a lot more than some spare change. Hell, it could possibly make her rich.

Shego flipped Kim off of her and they went back to sparring. The reporter had to duck out of sight completely after a few minutes because Bonnie showed up. When Bonnie entered the scene things got even crazier as far as the reporter was concerned. Bonnie exchanged a romantic kiss with both Kim and Shego. Tina was able to snap photos of that, which she almost wanted to celebrate, but she knew she had to be quiet.

“What the fuck?” Shego muttered because she could have sworn she saw a flash of light by the front door. She looked through the big display window, but did not see anything. She turned to her lovers. “Was that just me or did you guys see that, too?” she asked.

“No, I saw it, too,” Kim agreed, looking through the window, too, but she did not see anything either.

“That was weird,” Bonnie commented with her face slightly scrunched up because she had also noticed the flash.

Shego decided to go look outside because that was really odd. She opened the door, which had window on the top of it and that was where the reporter took her picture from, and she looked up and down the street. There was no one around. _Weird_ , she thought. Tina had ducked into an alley by the building.

“Somebody there?” Kim asked, motioning to the door with her hand.

“No, nobody was there,” Shego answered, shutting the door and turning her attention back to her girlfriends.

“That was weird,” Bonnie repeated because it was.

“Maybe it was just a passing car or something,” the redhead offered, even though the light did not seem like the beams from a car’s headlights. She just wanted to give up another explanation to make what happened seem less creepy. 

“That light wasn’t from a passing car,” Shego replied while going back over to the hero and the lawyer. The light they saw did not have the same properties as the headlights of a passing car. It went by too quickly. A passing car’s lights would have lingered for a moment rather than blinked through like that light had and it was too bright. So, what the hell was that light?

“Let’s let it go. It’s was just a light,” Bonnie pointed out.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Go get into your sweats, so we can get to this,” Shego told Bonnie while pointing to the locker room.

Bonnie made a mocking face, even though she obeyed the order. She liked her self-defense lessons, even if she had felt the sting of Shego’s might. They tried not to bring up “the accident” anymore because it would lead to Shego apologizing a lot. She wanted to make it perfectly clear that she honestly had not known that Bonnie was there, which her girlfriends believed, but she still felt the need to insist that it was an accident, just in case. Kim and Bonnie did not want to hear it anymore and they did not want to put Shego through what certainly seemed to be traumatic for her.

-8-8-8-8-

Tina was ready to do a dance because of the pictures that she got. She could not believe her luck. She had just come out there to steal a little bit of Sherm’s story and it would seem that good fortune shone on her brighter than the sun on a tropical beach. First, she thought she had been lucky to see THE Kim Possible kissing Shego, former megalomaniac presumed dead, but then to see that other woman come in and kiss both of them was beyond good fortune. It was like destiny.

“I’ve got the scoop of the century,” she muttered, making her way back to her car. She had parked far from the school, not wanting to be spotted.

Now, she planned to do some digging around since she had stumbled across the mother load of all stories. After all, who in their right mind would expect Kim Possible of all people to be involved in what looked very much like a lesbian threesome. With Shego of all people! Yes, it required further investigation. She needed to uncover as much as she possibly could and milk it for all it was worth before any vultures could out and came to pick the story clean like the carcass of dead gazelle.

“This is it. This is what’s going to make me,” she said, driving off into her destiny.

So, now she had to go find out who the third woman was along with whatever information she could pick up on Kim and Shego. She especially needed to find out why the former bitter enemies were together. She giggled at the thought.

 _Oh, god_. She was so giddy, even though she had to admit she felt a bit guilty over what she was doing. She was about the same age as Kim and had looked up to the hero when she was a teenager. It always amazed her that Kim could do all the fantastic things and have such awe-inspiring adventures at such a young age. But, there was a story to tell and she was a reporter. Hey, the people had a right to know things about a public figure like Kim and also a potentially dangerous person like Shego. Who knew what was going on. Shego could be luring Kim to the dark side, which would be dangerous for the world. She was doing a public service.

-*-(New day)-*-

“Oh, dear lord,” Doctor Ann Possible muttered as she walked by a newsstand located near the hospital where she worked in. She could not believe her eyes and she could only wonder the outcome of what she was witnessing. She could only imagine Shego’s reaction.

-8-8-8-8-

“I don’t think firefly is going to like this,” Isabel said when she saw the news. “I hope she doesn’t cause too much property damage.” She was fairly certain that in Middleton, the Earth shook.

-8-8-8-8-

“What the fuck is this bullshit!” Shego roared as she tore a newspaper away from one of her morning students.

“I told you not to bring it in here,” a young woman whispered to her boyfriend while their teacher stared in disbelief at what was on the front page.

“Well, I didn’t think it looked like them, so I wanted to know,” he replied, explaining why he had brought the paper to class in the first place. He did not think the front-page picture was of the people it claimed to be of, namely Kim and Shego.

The front-page picture was actually two pictures separated by a diagonal line. One picture showed Kim kissing Shego. The background was too blurry for Shego to tell where the picture was taken, not that it mattered. The other picture showed Kim kissing Bonnie. Both kisses were obviously romantic in nature and then the headline had the nerve to read in huge, bold type “Great Hero Kim Possible: GAY!” Underneath it all was other text that stated, “KP can do anything, except decide between good or evil, lawyer or convict.”

“MOTHERFUCKER!” Shego hollered at the top of her lungs. She had not even turned to the article yet to see what else was said. The front page was enough for the moment. Not only was the tabloid going out of its way to screw Kim over, but it would seem they knew who she and Bonnie were. “SHIT!” She was about to go through a bunch of other curse words, but was interrupted.

“Shego, watch your language if you’re going to be that loud,” Kim called from the middle of the stairs. Her students could hear Shego and they were only four years old for crying out loud.

“You, come here!” Shego ordered her girlfriend, pointing to the floor. She would have kept it to herself, but she knew that Kim was going to find out eventually no matter what.

“What? I can’t just leave the kids up there on their own,” Kim pointed out, motioning to the top of the stairs with her hand.

“Sam, go watch her brats for a second,” Shego commanded one of her students. The young woman trotted off without responding. She climbed the stairs passed Kim, who went to see what Shego wanted and possibly what was getting her all pissed off.

“It’s too early in the morning for this,” Kim joked. She was the last person to tell someone it was too early for something.

Kim marched over to the green-skinned woman, who held the paper up for her to see the front page. Kim’s eyes practically fell out of her head and she gasped when she saw the headline. She moved faster than the speed of light it seemed to make it to Shego now and to read what the hell that paper was going on about.

“Who took these pictures?” Kim roared when she saw the pictures that were in the paper. “Were they looking through our damn window?” she huffed.

“Holy shit, that’s _in_ our house,” Shego realized as she looked at the pictures that were accompanying the article. The pictures had to be worse than the words because they showed intimate moments between the trio. The paper seemed to be trying to make it seem like they were not in an equal relationship, but one where Kim was going between Shego and Bonnie at her leisure.

“They can’t… they can’t… they can’t do this, can they?” Kim pled to know in a rather panicked tone. She was suddenly having trouble breathing. She had not only just been outed on a national stage, but so had her lovers. It was overwhelming, not to mention Shego being alive was now public knowledge.

“Yeah, they can and did. I think we’re in for some shit,” Shego commented and then they both seemed to come to the same realization. Green eyes went wide. They were not the only ones in some shit.

“Bonnie,” they both gasped. She was possibly in the deepest shit of all and they doubted that she knew yet since they had just found out.

“Fuck!” Shego hollered while making two fists and looking up at the ceiling in despair. Kim dipped her head and lamented with a sigh. They wished that they could be there with Bonnie right now to protect her from the news. At least Kim stopped hyperventilating, though.

-8-8-8-8-

Bonnie had gone into work as usual. She ignored almost everyone, which was something she generally did. She hated bothering with the people at her firm. She thought they were all idiots and/or jealous of her professional bite.

But, she noticed their behavior, how they whispered as she walked by or snickered or looked at her as if something about her had suddenly changed since they last saw her. _Morons_ , she thought. It was not until a named partner, the same one who called her when she had the black eye, summoned her did she find out what was going on. She was the one who wanted to know what was going on.

“Bonnie, what’s this?” he inquired, sliding a newspaper across his desk to her.

Bonnie did not usually get a chance to read the morning news, having way too much to do in the morning. She usually caught up on current events on the computer anyway once she was in her office. So, she had no idea why he was showing her the paper.

Bonnie did not answer since she did not have an answer. She picked up the paper. When she saw the front page, her expression was very similar to Kim’s; her eyes nearly fell out of her skull. _What the ever-loving fuck?_

She quickly regained her composure and then proceeded to tear the paper open to read what the hell it had to say. She quickly scanned everything in disbelief. They had named her, full name, including a frightfully embarrassing middle name, and then had the nerve to make it seem like she was sharing Kim with Shego instead of them being within a completely equal relationship with both of them. Not that the reality of their relationship would have made the article any better.

 _I’m going to sue these bastards!_ Not just for her, but they slandered her baby’s good name and they also just pointed out that Shego was alive, which could put her in grave danger. After all, a lot of villains more than likely were not pleased with Shego getting off without real punishment and she was now shacked up with Kim Possible. _This is bad_. _This is so bad_.

The article actually put her and Shego in mortal danger by linking them to Kim. Anyone who Kim pissed off in her life, which had to be a lot of people considering the fact that she had been a hero for decade more or less, now knew they could get to Kim through Shego and Bonnie. Oh, she was definitely going to sue the bastards!

“So, Bonnie, what is that?” he asked again.

“It’s bullshit is what it is,” Bonnie answered in a growl and fire in her belly. The fury blazing in her eyes had to rival the fires of Hell.

“But, that is you, kissing a woman,” he stated.

Bonnie frowned and did not answer for a moment. “It might look like me, but that could be anybody,” she pointed out. Unless he could prove that was her without a shadow of a doubt, she would never admit it.

“It looks a lot like you.”

“Yes, but this picture isn’t wearing a nametag and even if it was, I’m certain it wouldn’t read Bonnie Rockwaller,” she replied.

“But, you are friends with Kim Possible. I’ve been told you go to lunch with her and with this green woman. Now, if I look up your address and find that this article is true with you living with them, what then?”

“We’re roommates,” she answered, not that it was any of his business. It was not like she entertained them during working hours.

“Roommates?” he echoed, his slightly wrinkled face showing a brief sign of amusement. She knew right then and there he did not believe her and she was as good as fired.

“Yes,” she insisted. So, along with the newspaper, she might be suing her firm as well.

“Bonnie, this is bad. You know how we feel about bad. This is actually very bad. Very, very bad. About a hundred times worse than when you got the black eye,” he commented, sitting back in his black leather seat.

“Sir,” she started to say. She was going to defend herself, but he was not even considering listening to her.

“Bonnie, I think it would be best if you took a leave until this whole thing blows over. The firm doesn’t need this type of attention and you do represent this firm,” he pointed out.

Bonnie snarled like an angry dog, which actually scared her boss. He thought she might hit him or something even worse than that. After all, she did have a reputation around the place. Besides, from the tension in her face, he could tell she wanted to hit something.

Bonnie was just so pissed because she knew that she was fired, even if he wanted to call it “leave.” She had worked so hard at the firm and had every intention of becoming a partner some time soon and now she was out of that. Not to mention, she might not be able to get hired at any other firm around the nation thanks to that article. Oh, the paper was so sued!

“This leave should start immediately?” Bonnie inquired through clenched teeth.

“This very minute,” he answered.

“I thought as much. Should I just clean out my office now or would you like to string me along for little while longer before you actually fire me?” she asked. She was willing to bet her firm was going to string her a long for while just to make sure they crossed every “t” and dot every “i” to make sure that when they fired her, she did not come back to haunt them. The last thing they wanted was for the legal rottweiler, as Bonnie was affectionately known as, to come back and bite them in the asses.

“Right now, you’re on leave.”

Bonnie frowned. She imagined in a few days or so she would get official word that she was fired. She stormed out of the office while wondering how the hell that paper got those pictures and that information. She did recall for the past few weeks, Kim and Shego both kept swearing it seemed like they were being watched. She dismissed it as paranoia, especially on Shego’s part, but it seemed they had been quite right in their suspicions. Someone or ones had been spying on them.

 _Why is it always something!_ Bonnie was starting to think Fate was just against her, Kim, and Shego having a decent relationship. First, they all had to get comfortable being together and then when they did that, they had to deal with Global Justice kidnapping Shego and psychologically torturing her for days. After Global Justice, they had to deal with Drakken being alive and kidnapping her while trying to kill Shego and Kim. After that, they had to deal with the worst mess of all, namely Kim’s parents finding out about their little trio and handling the news just short of “extremely fucked up.” They were only just getting back to normal, not just in behavior, but also in weight and health, and now they had a new Hell to contend with.

“Can’t we just be normal and happy?” she mumbled, packing up things in her office. She could only take so much because only so much could fit in her briefcase and purse. The rest she would get when she was officially fired.

She dared considered Fate was sending them a message. Maybe they were not meant to be together. She was not sure what was meant to be, but they seemed to be going through so much and she did not think it was fair. Maybe something beyond them just did not want them to be together. 

The thought did not have much time to remain on her mind as she noticed the stares from her coworkers. She decided not to pay them any mind and exit the place with the same powerful grace she came in with every morning. They could think what they wanted to think and say what they wanted to say. No matter what she went through at least she had two wonderful women she could go home to every night that made her feel as if she was an empress. It was that that made her forget all about Fate trying to send them a message. She had a message, too: Fuck Fate.

She got on the elevator, leaving behind the foolishness that was the only job she had ever known. She hopped in her car, thankful she had been the one to drive that day, and went right to the Enriching Green Lotus. She looked in the window, seeing Shego was teaching a class. She entered anyway, but did not disturb the class. Shego noticed her tanned girlfriend, but she did not say anything.

Once the class was done, the three lovers met up and sat around in the backroom. It was like an office area equipped with a wooden desk at the back of the room and three chairs lined up against the wall. It was the lunch hour and they would not have classes for another couple of hours. They did not say anything for a long while, only staring at each other. They knew what they should talk about, but they could not seem to broach the subject. 

“Guys, I’m pretty sure I got fired today,” Bonnie decided to say. She did not put much emotion into her voice despite working at that firm had been the only real work that she had known and she had made plenty of plans for being there in the future.

“I only had two students in my second morning class,” Kim chimed in with her own depressing news. She sounded a bit angry and that was only because she was controlling herself. She was outraged that her class had only had two students in it, especially since she knew why. She could not believe that people believed everything they read in the papers. It was not even a real paper. It was a tabloid for crying out loud!

“My class was fine,” Shego commented with a bit of a laugh. Despite the fact that a lot of her students either came in with the paper or were talking about the article, they all did show up. A few of them having the nerve to weigh in, saying that Kim should pick Shego over Bonnie because their teacher was “a total badass.” Obviously, they did not know Bonnie.

“Your students show up stoned half the time,” Kim said, as if that explained why they showed up.

“Don’t get mad because my group is open-minded. A lot of them just argued over the pictures, saying they didn’t really look like us. Those pictures are us, though, right?” Shego asked just to be sure.

“Hell, yeah. One of them is in our damn kitchen,” Bonnie pointed out.

“I thought that looked a lot like our kitchen,” Shego replied with a nod. “What the fuck, man? How the fuck didn’t we notice someone taking pictures and wandering around our own fucking house?” she wondered out loud in disbelief. She rubbed her face with her hands in frustration. Her mother was going to fucking disown her when Isabel found out she had been spied on and had not known about it.

“We were trying to get back into our groove,” Bonnie answered.

Kim and Shego nodded. Lately, they had been trying to work their relationship back to the way it was before Kim left and they had all fallen apart like a toothpick house. They had fixed the relationship, but obviously it distracted them from an important issue of someone actually snapping pictures of them in the privacy of their own home.

“What are we going to do about this?” Kim asked because she was at loss. It seemed like the storm was out of the bottle and there was no way they would be able to get it back in.

“Sue,” Bonnie stated the obvious. She was suing, there were no if, ands, or buts about that one.

“That isn’t going to make it go away,” the redhead pointed out, rubbing her temples a bit as if she was trying to fight an oncoming headache.

“Nothing is going to make this go away,” Shego grumbled. They were all so screwed. “I should just go up to this place and kick the ass of every fucking staff member there,” she declared quite seriously.

“That’s just going to make things worse,” Kim and Bonnie chimed in simultaneously.

“I’d feel a lot fucking better, though. This is some serious shit this thing has got us in, especially you two. This could ruin your lives. It already got you fired,” Shego growled, motioning fiercely toward Bonnie with her hand.

“Look, let’s just be calm about this. I mean, how bad could it really be?” Kim wondered aloud.

Her lovers just looked at her with deadpanned expressions. She could not really be that optimistic, they thought. She shrugged. Yeah, she really was that optimistic.

“Poor, poor Kimmie,” Shego said, shaking her head.

“What? Really, how bad could it be?” Kim dared to repeat.

“You’ve never heard of ‘famous last words,’ have you, baby?” Bonnie asked.

-8-8-8-8-

They later found out how bad it was. There were reporters of all kinds parked outside of their home. Some of their neighbors were also outside of their house and they were not looking mighty neighborly, shouting about how they wanted the “immoral lesbians” out of their neighborhood. Shego decided to get rid of their unwanted company.

“Everyone has five seconds to get off our fucking lawn or it’s going to be impossible for you to have open casket funerals!” Shego snarled while flaring her hands, which quickly got rid of everyone. The people scattered like roaches when the lights came on. Kim and Bonnie did not even bother to scold her.

The trio went inside to find out that they were on every news and gossip channel that cable television provided. They really did not know what they should do. They did not have much time to think either as the phone started ringing. It turned out to be Isabel calling to check on them. Right after that, the Kimmunicator went off and that happened to be Ann calling to check on them.

“We’re fine,” Shego assured her mother.

“We’re taking care of it,” Kim assured her mother. Of course, she had no idea how they would “take care” of it. 

It was through Isabel and Ann they learned even radio show hosts were talking about them. No one had anything really decent to say either. A lot of them were talking about how they suspected Kim was gay anyway for various reasons. Most of that speculation seemed due to the fact that she went adventures and knew how to fight better than most. They all rolled their eyes at that.

“If fighting ability was the way to measure lesbianism, I’d probably be straight as hell,” Bonnie commented, making a disgusted face.

A few people commented about Kim’s relationship with Shego and how it was probably the reason she captured Shego all those times. Apparently, the super-powered female had not wanted to hurt “her little girlfriend” at the time. Shego could not be more horrified.

“You were like twelve when I met you!” Shego objected. “Not to mention annoying.”

“Okay, first off, I was sixteen. It’s not like you’re so much older than me,” Kim replied.

“And you’re still annoying,” Shego said. “The point is, I wasn’t looking at you like that when we used to tangle and I don’t like people implying or outright saying otherwise.”

Lastly, some of the people actually called them immoral degenerates. Some people went as far as saying it was people “like them” who dragged the whole country down. It was being suggested they should be kicked out of town.

“Fuck them,” Shego decided. She did not give damn what anyone said. She had her girls, she had her life, and she had her classes. She was happy and she refused to let anyone make her feel bad for being happy. So, fuck them. 

Kim and Bonnie, who had more to lose, could not brush things off as easy as Shego. It did not help that things seemed to be coming at them from all sides. Dealing with the media and public opinion was one thing, but hearing from family and friends was something else.

The phone calls of the evening did not end with Isabel and Ann. Everyone suddenly called them, friends, family, and, of course, the media. They did not want to talk about it, so they did not answer the phone. Eventually, they even unplugged the phone to not have to bother with the irksome ringing noise.

-8-8-8-8-

“James, don’t you think this is terrible?” Ann said to her husband as they watched the news together. Their relationship had been a little bumpy ever since Ann accepted Kim’s lifestyle while James seemed to still think that the trio was wrong. The news seemed to be about nothing more than their daughter and her two girlfriends. Ann was a little worried about them.

James did not have an answer at the moment. He did not like how Kim’s business was being aired coast to coast. He also did not like what was being said about the woman who had saved the world countless times without asking for anything in return. How could they turn on her so easily and make it seem like she was some villain?

But, he actually agreed with some of the arguments to a degree. Socially speaking, he did not think Kim’s relationship was right. Human society was built on a set of norms and those norms helped society function. This was logical. Going against those norms could unravel society as they knew it, which was not something he was for.

But, morally speaking, he was starting not to see a problem with it considering what some of the people were saying. He had already heard the words “sinful,” “degenerate,” “whore,” and many others like that more times than he ever needed to in reference to his daughter. She was none of those things, after all. 

“Maybe it’ll blow over,” James finally replied, rubbing his forehead. He did not know what else to say. Of course, he thought what was happening was terrible considering the fact that it could destroy Kim and Bonnie. He might not agree with their lifestyle, but they were two fine, upstanding young women who did not deserve to have their personal business out in the world like that.

“Blow over?” Ann echoed with an arched eyebrow. She obviously did not believe that.

Sighing, James scratched his head. “There has got to be a bigger story out there somewhere than who Kimmie-cub goes to bed with,” he offered in hopeful tone. He would pray that there was a bigger story out there and that someone found that story very soon.

“Let’s hope,” she agreed. Maybe somewhere there was a bigger story, but sex was what sold and at the moment, Kim’s life seemed to be all about a sex scandal. A lesbian, polygamous sex scandal at that, so it might take some time for something big enough to push that out of the news, if there was something big enough to push that out of the news. 

-*-(New day)-*-

“They still out there?” Kim asked Bonnie, who was standing at the window in their house and looking out into the front yard.

“They’re still there and more are coming,” Bonnie reported with a frown.

Their front lawn was covered in reporters and neighbors who wanted them out of the neighborhood now, if not sooner. People were actually protesting with picket signs right on their front lawn. Shego had turned the sprinklers on them earlier to get everyone to leave just so she could make it out to her car to go food shopping for them. They could only hope she did not assault someone while she was out.

“This is damn ridiculous,” Bonnie commented, shaking her head. She did not know what to make of everything happened. Surely there were bigger issues in the world than what they did when they got home, but everyone was making it seem as though they were the only problem in the universe at the moment. 

Kim could only agree. They had been getting reporters on the lawn along with protestors since that stupid tabloid published that they had a lesbian love-triangle going on. The protestors were worse than the reporters. The reporters only desired a story, but the protestors wanted to ride them out of town because of what they did in their own home. Well, it was not really their house since they rented it.

Their landlord had called a few times. He wanted to get them out of the house because of the news stories. He was worried about his property possibly being damaged by all the traffic and campers they had. The stories out now were not as detailed as that first article, but reporters got stories from the neighbors about the trio. The neighbors confirmed little things, like how long the ladies lived together, how often they had visitors, and things like that.

Reporters had tried doing the same at the school, but the students who stayed were not giving up anything about their teachers. Kim and Shego were touched by the loyalty of the students they had left, especially when it came to the parents of the younger students. Kim and Shego had been told to hang in there and the teachers promised to do just that while assuring their students that nothing was going to happen to the school, no matter what happened to them.

Other than their landlord, they got calls from other people, some encouraging and some not. Ron called immediately when he heard about what was going on. Kim took the time to explain everything to him and, even though he was his usual excitable self, he was extremely understanding about things. Kim and Ron tended to be understanding of each other, even if they did something weird by the other’s standards, partly because they did not want to strain their friendship any more than the distance between them was already doing. Ron was working at a world-class restaurant in California as a chef. He was there mostly because that was where Yori moved when she took up residency in the United States.

After getting the full story, Ron now mostly called just to check up on the trio, much like Isabel and Ann. He offered several times to fly back to Middleton if they needed him, but Kim told him not to do that. She did not want to get Ron caught up in the madness and he conceded his presence probably would only make the story get even more outlandish.

Besides for Ron, Wade had called a dozen or so times, trying to get the story straight. Kim was slightly less open with him than she had been with Ron. She answered any questions that he had, but she was not very comfortable with it. It was not that she thought of Wade as less of a friend, but they just did not have the kind of relationship where she was used to telling him everything like she was with Ron.

Wade initially showed his support for the trio by crashing a lot of websites reporting their story. Articles vanished from the web, videos disappeared, and sometimes whole networks went haywire. Eventually, Kim told him to stop because it would not do them any good for him to get in trouble.

Of course, Monique had to call. She wanted to know the dirt and Kim filled her in, too. She, too, offered to fly back to Middleton. At the moment, she was in Miami, but she typically was wherever the fashion business blew her. Kim told her just like she told Ron, figuring Monique would only get dragged into the mayhem, especially since everyone’s main concern was the trio involved was just lesbians. Another woman being around and the media might explode with joy. 

There were negative calls, though, which were expected. Bonnie’s family called, but Bonnie did not answer any calls from them unless they were from her brother, Johnnie, since he was supportive. She had made the mistake of answering a call that was not from Johnnie and her elder sisters just rubbed it in her face that she had been outed in a newspaper without any concern as to what such a thing was doing to her emotionally or psychologically.

Kim’s grandmother called as well. That was more a mixed call than anything. Her nana already knew she was a lesbian, having met Bonnie over a few family functions. Her nana liked Bonnie a great deal since she was a strong woman, but still lady-like in her dress and mannerisms. Her nana threatened her that if she left Bonnie for Shego the next time they sparred the kid-gloves were coming off, implying she took it easy on Kim when they sparred. Her nana told her that life was too short to care what other people thought though, so she should not let the attention get to her and just stand strong. She stressed that Kim needed to “stand strong _with_ _Bonnie_.” There was an underlying threat in her voice.

Sometimes, it was funny to think her nana raised her dad, but other times, she could see it. Her nana was unconventional, yes, but also very traditional in a weird way. Her dad had to pick up those little quirks from somewhere. 

Slim and Joss called, too. They really did not even want to know what was going on. They just assured Kim they were behind her no matter what since family was supposed to stick together. This made Kim smile.

Shego’s twin brothers and Kim’s brothers also made similar calls, even though they all made it clear they wanted to know what was going on when everything blew over. Shego did not even answer any calls from Hego, not wanting to know what he thought because she had a big feeling he was going to side with everyone that swore to the heavens they were doing some wrong and immoral.

They got a few threats over the phone, but they ignored those for the most part. Shego dared people to come to the house and try to act on their threats. She really just wanted something or someone she could hit very hard until she was not aggravated by the situation anymore. Her girlfriends were surprised she had not even inflicted wounds on a television camera yet, but she was controlling her temper rather well for the most part.

Shego did bark loud enough for people to not want to experience the bite that might come along with her, which was why they parted like the red sea when she returned home from shopping. Even though she had her hands filled with groceries, people moved out of her way rapidly. She entered the house with a scowl.

“You’d think there was a free fucking concert going on out there with the way people are just camped out on our shit,” Shego grumbled, putting the bags down.

“And it’s just getting worse,” Bonnie pointed out.

“We should buy a loudspeaker and then just let Shego yell at everyone,” Kim suggested at a joke.

“That would probably work. They get out of her way as if she’s a mad dog, anyway,” Bonnie remarked with a good-natured smile on her face.

“You wanted to say mad bitch so badly, didn’t you?” Shego inquired because of the look on her tanned lover’s face.

“You know I did. It’s just that now isn’t the time to make fun of you,” Bonnie commented, still smiling.

Shego did not argue that. At the moment, they needed to stand together. So, they did not make fun of each other as much as they usually would have. But, then again, they were not really living their ordinary lives anymore. They felt like they were liked trapped in an irksome dream that did not seem to be fading away anytime soon. They supposed they now knew how pet fish felt.

-8-8-8-8-

The trio sat on their sofa, watching television for lack of a better thing to do. The Kimmunicator went off. Kim moved to answer it; it was a good thing they were all sitting on the couch instead of lying down or they would have all been annoyed because of the movement that would be involved for Kim to retrieve the device from her pocket. She greeted Wade with her usual question of “What’s the sitch?”

“Hey, Kim, how are you guys holding up over there?” Wade inquired with concern that was typical for him now.

“We’re good, trying to relax,” she answered.

“Well, I’m calling to remind you about the high school you’re supposed to talk to tomorrow,” he informed her.

“Wow, it’s tomorrow. I totally forgot with everything that’s been going on,” Kim said, trying to hide her shock because she had forgotten all about that. She was embarrassed that she had forgotten about it.

“I was wondering if you want me to cancel it because of all of this news stuff,” he offered. He thought it would probably be best to cancel things. He thought it was a little weird the school did not cancel considering all of the negative press about Kim lately.

“No, if the girl or the school didn’t cancel it, then why should I? I’ll go. Maybe the change in scenery will help,” the hero replied with a forced laugh.

“Okay, I was just making sure. I’ll send you all the information you need to know in a second. Bye,” he said and he disconnected the call.

“What high school you’re supposed to go to?” Shego asked Kim as soon as the call was over. She beat Bonnie to asking the same question.

“It’s out of town,” Kim answered.

“You’re going out of town by yourself in this kind of hostile in environment?” Shego inquired with a scowl. Her eyebrows knitted close together as she sort of glared at Kim.

“From the way you’re looking at me, I’m guessing no,” Kim replied. Shego’s expression and Bonnie’s expression told her that she was either not going out of town or she was not going by herself. She was not sure which yet.

“Damn right you’re not. I’m coming, too,” Shego declared. Just in case someone tried to get aggressive with Kim, she would be there to get in the person’s face and maybe even do more than that if necessary. 

“Well, we can’t leave Bonnie here by herself,” Kim pointed out the obvious. They would both worry out of their minds if Bonnie were alone in Middleton, especially considering the fact that they had people picketing on their front lawn and calling their house with threats. All they needed was for one person to suddenly be bold and stupid and touch Bonnie, Shego would probably burn the town down and Kim would help.

“Well, demon child, I guess you’re coming by default,” Shego remarked with a half-smile.

“I was going to come, anyway. Someone has to look after you two, after all,” Bonnie commented with her own smile. Shego rolled her eyes.

-*-(New day)-*-

The trio arrived in the tiny town of Ninguna rather late at night. They checked into a motel to get a few hours of sleep. Kim woke up first and began going over her speech. She was a bit nervous about the speech considering everything that had been going on. Secretly, she was a bit shocked the school had not cancelled her appearance, but she was glad they had not. Maybe they had risen above all of the crap and just still believed in her good deeds. She wanted to do something that was normal for her and that hopefully helped people.

Shego woke up as soon as Kim was ready to leave. The redhead actually had plans to just go on her own and not wake her lovers, which Shego seemed to sense. She glared at Kim as she got dressed. 

“Oh, stop looking at me like that,” Kim hissed.

“You need to stop trying to be fucking slick, Princess,” Shego replied in a low tone. Neither of them wanted to wake Bonnie. 

“I wasn’t.”

Shego rolled her eyes. “Anyway. We should be able to just leave Bonnie here. The demon child needs her sleep.”

Kim nodded in agreement. “Yeah, it’s been really stressful, especially for her.” Whenever one of them got a good sleep, they all figured it was best to let that continue. So, they decided to leave without Bonnie.

The pair did not make it very far out of the motel, though. They walked into the parking lot and three cop cars came out of nowhere along with some news vans. Kim and Shego looked at each other as police officers piled out of the cars. 

“We’re about to get arrested, aren’t we?” Kim asked her girlfriend in a deadpan tone.

“Hell, yeah,” Shego answered as if it was blatantly obvious, which it appeared to be. 

The former thief was very much correct. They were being arrested and the cops ordered them to put their hands in the air. They were then cuffed rather roughly and ushered into one of the cars. The swarm of news crews, who just happened to be present, filmed everything that happened.

“Hey, what’s the fucking charge, you stupid hick?” Shego demanded, kicking at the seat in front of her to get the officer’s attention. 

“You’re under arrest for sodomy. You have the right to remain silent…” The officer then went into their rights.

“Sodomy?” Kim echoed in a puzzled voice.

“This just gets better and better,” Shego commented with a laugh. They had been in the town for all of six hours and they were arrested for sodomy. She could only wonder what evidence they had to support such a charge. But, from the presence of all of the television cameras and everything, she doubted it was making it stick that mattered. Great, she and Kim were now a publicity stunt.

-8-8-8-8-

Bonnie woke up moments after Kim and Shego left. She sucked her teeth to see she was alone. She got up from the bed and went to brush her teeth. She turned the television on to find out what the weather was like and the first thing she got to see was a replay of the Kim Possible and her villainess lover Shego being arrested for sodomy.

“…Our fair town will not stand for such perverts ruining our atmosphere and we shall prosecute these degenerates to full extent our laws,” the distinct attorney promised the news cameras. 

“Oh, come the fuck on!” Bonnie groaned in disbelief with her toothbrush in her mouth. Now she would have to go bite the heads off of the town’s legal authorities for arresting Kim and Shego on a bullshit charge like sodomy.

Bonnie tore into her bag to pull out her outfit for the day. She wished she had packed a suit, but she had not expected working during the one day they were supposed to be in town. _Of course, I should always expect to be working when we go out somewhere with Shego_. Still, she would just use her outfit to her advantage by hopefully catching the distinct attorney off-guard. With her legal mind and the element of surprise, she hoped they would still only be spending the day in Ninguna. Bonnie was just about to go when her cell phone went off.

“Baby,” Kim greeted Bonnie. 

“I saw you two on the news. I’m on my way,” Bonnie answered.

Kim sighed in relief. “Okay, that’s good.”

“Don’t worry, baby. This is all bullshit anyway. I think the jackass of a D.A likes seeing himself on TV or something because he is hamming it up,” Bonnie remarked. The D.A was still on the news talking about how he was going to send Kim and Shego to jail for their “depraved and immoral actions in their fair town.” 

“Okay.” Kim was very relieved to hear Bonnie was the case already.

“How’s Shego doing?” Bonnie inquired. 

“She called her mother. I get the feeling you should be getting a lot of legal help in a couple of hours.”

“I’ll take it. As soon as I get you guys out, we’re getting out of here.” 

“That’s what Shego said, too,” Kim reported. It would seem she would not able to give her speech, but she was starting to doubt the school would have let her anyway. Shego said she thought they had been set up, lured to the town just so that the D.A could use them to get his face on television. If that was the case, it was working.

“Okay, baby, let me go,” Bonnie said.

“Bye.”

Bonnie finished getting dressed. Her outfit was a designer black button-down shirt with white paw prints on it; it hugged her torso rather snuggly. She had regular black slacks to match. She slipped on her shoes and was ready to go. Bonnie ran into a little problem when she went to free her lovers and her problem was that she was arrested on the same charge when someone recognized who she was. She did not even care. She would just act as her own attorney. 

“Calm down, demon child. Let some wolves handle this one this time,” Shego told Bonnie. The lovers were reunited in the same holding cell.

“Wolves?” Bonnie asked with an eyebrow raised in curiosity. 

“My mother’s sending some legal predators of our own. They’ll handle it. In fact, they might bend the D.A over just for the hell of it since he wants to bring sodomy into things,” Shego remarked with an almost cruel smile on her face.

Bonnie decided to believe her pale girlfriend. They all sat back and waited. It took a few hours, but the cell door opened and an officer had his hat in his hands.

“Uh, we’re very sorry and you ladies are free to go,” the officer muttered.

They stepped out of the cell and faced a middle-aged man in an expensive looking silk black suit. He was bald; his head was shaved. He had a small mustache and dark brown eyes. 

“Hey, Charlie,” Shego greeted the suited man in a nonchalant tone.

“Hey. You just can’t stay out of trouble, can you?” the man replied with a warm smile. 

“Not my fault. I’m sure by now you’re familiar with my girls. Kim Possible and Bonnie Rockwaller,” Shego introduced the pair with her and then she turned to her girlfriends. “This is one of my parents’ many lawyers, Charlie Darrow. He typically comes around when I’m in a bit of a legal jam,” she explained. 

“Nice to meet you,” Kim and Bonnie both said, reaching out to shake the lawyer’s hand. They also thanked him for his service.

“It’s no problem. If you stick around for a little while my partner in crime, an evil fellow by the name of Shawn Sure, is going to force the D.A and sheriff of this county to apologize to you all on national television,” Charlie informed them. 

“Sounds like something Shawn would do,” Shego commented with an amused smirk on her face.

“He wants to keep the title evil incarnate and it’s a hard thing to do with you and your mother wandering the planet, so he’s got to pull miracles out his ass every now and then,” Charlie remarked with a bit a laugh. 

“He better watch what he pulls out of his ass here. After all, we know they like arresting people for sodomy,” Shego joked.

The ladies were not really in the mood to stick around for that apology, even though they would later see it on television when it was being replayed. They just wanted to go home. 

“You sure you don’t want to stick around? After all, the D.A probably set this up since he’s up for reelection,” Charlie told them.

“That only makes me want to go home more,” Bonnie said. Her lovers sighed their agreements.

Usually, it would have tickled Shego to watch someone who wronged her go down in flames, especially someone as self-righteous as the D.A. Apparently, the man wanted to show that he came down hard on “immortality in all its forms.” Now, he just looked like a jackass because he offered an official apology to the three women and informed the press that the charges had been dropped, mostly due to lack of evidence. Shego figured it was mostly due to the fact that her lawyer was probably the closest thing to Satan the D.A would ever meet short of him coming into contact with her mother.

-8-8-8-8- 

The trio doubted they were would ever be so happy to see their house in all of their lives. They were also happy there was no one on the front lawn for the first time in over a week. They got to the door and Kim put her key in the lock, well, she tried to anyway. The key would not fit.

“What the hell?” Kim wondered aloud. 

“What’s this?” Shego said as she grabbed an envelope that had been taped to the front door. She opened it and pulled out a letter, which they all read. As if things could not be any worse, they were evicted and the locks on all doors had been changed. The landlord informed them their things were all in a storage unit. They needed to contact him for the key, which he did not want to leave in the envelope because he was willing to bet that some nosy newsperson would steal it.

“Does it never end!” Bonnie hollered to the sky, throwing her hands up. “Where the hell are we supposed to go on such short notice?” 

“My mother has a house not too far away, but she’s there at the moment and I don’t want to deal with that mess,” Shego commented, scratching her head. 

“I could call my mom,” Kim volunteered.

“You think your dad’ll be cool with that?” Shego asked with a skeptical expression on her face. 

“We’re about to find out,” Kim answered.

Kim pulled out the Kimmunicator to speak with her parents while Bonnie decided to call the landlord about the key to the storage unit their stuff was in. The redhead was on the phone just as long as Bonnie was, which seemed weird. Apparently, there was no argument or anything from Kim’s parents.

“We can go to the house,” Kim informed her girlfriends.

“Okay, we can pick up the key, too,” Bonnie said. They all sighed and went to get into their cars. 

-8-8-8-8-

“James, Kimmie, Bonnie, and Shego are coming here to stay for a while because they were evicted from their house. Don’t give them a hard time,” Ann ordered her spouse after she got off of the phone with Kim.

“Evicted?” James echoed as if he did not understand. 

“Yes, the landlord locked them out. I’m guessing it has to do with all this news nonsense. Don’t give them a hard time,” Ann repeated firmly. 

“I won’t,” he promised. The last thing he wanted to do was make Kim’s life any harder than it had to be now. He was not a cruel man, after all, especially not when it came to his own daughter, or so he thought anyway.

True to his word, he did not give the trio a hard time when they arrived. He was rather friendly toward them, even though they did not return the feeling. The ladies were just worn out and all they really wanted to do was have some hot showers and maybe get some sleep. James and Ann understood that considering the trials and tribulations the trio was going through lately. The doctors had even seen the news about Kim and Shego getting arrested, so they knew the ladies just needed some time relax. 

The girlfriends all went to Kim’s room when they were done showering. They all crawled into her bed, which was full size, so it fit them, but it was just barely. Then, they fell asleep.

When they woke up, the ladies assessed their situation. They were homeless, Bonnie was waiting to hear that she was fired, but she was fired, and the media was still on their cases, especially after the arrest. Things were not looking too good. First of all, they needed Bonnie’s income to keep the school going for the moment because student dues just were not enough yet, especially since some students had quit. So, they might possibly even be without a school, which would leave them with nothing. 

“All right, I’ll take care of this one,” Shego stated out of the blue, once they went through everything.

“What?” Kim and Bonnie asked with bent in eyebrows and their mouths twisted up. They did not get what she was talking about.

“It’s time I took care of you two instead of the other way around. Pass me a phone,” Shego requested.

Bonnie quickly handed Shego her cell phone. Shego wasted no time dialing a number. Bonnie looked at Kim, hoping the redhead would be able to explain what was going on. Kim shrugged. She did not know what Shego was talking about.

“Hey, Mommy,” Shego said into the phone while cutting her lovers a glare to warn them not to laugh at her as they often did when she uttered the word “mommy.”

Bonnie and Kim held in their snickers. They glanced at each other, though. Hearing Shego say “mommy” would never get old. They wondered what Shego was calling Isabel for now.

“Mommy, I need you to transfer my money back to me,” Shego informed her mother. There was a pause; Shego was listening to her mother’s answer. “Don’t ask why, just do it. It’s my fucking money,” the former villainess huffed. 

Bonnie and Kim just watched as Shego got into a little argument with her mother over some money from what they could tell. They guessed Isabel was teasing Shego on the other end, which she was, and it explained why Shego seemed so irked. Isabel did not taunt her daughter for long, knowing Shego was having the week from Hell and did not need any more stress.

“But, why do you need your money so suddenly?” Isabel asked.

“It’s none of your goddamn business. Just transfer the fucking money back,” Shego ordered.

The money they spoke on had to do with the money Shego had made throughout her criminal career. When she had “died,” Shego had a will and she left everything to her mother. Before showing she was not dead, the will had instructed Isabel to divide the money between the family. Isabel held off on doing that, which Shego was glad for since she was not really dead. The thing was that Isabel still controlled Shego’s assets since most of the world still thought she was dead and Shego really did not have a use for it anyway. There was no point to that now since everyone on the planet knew she was alive now and she really needed her cash now. 

“What are we going to do now?” Bonnie wondered aloud as Shego disconnected her call with her mother. The pale woman handed her phone back.

“Wait,” Shego answered. Bonnie and Kim did not question that response. 

-8-8-8-8-

Ann went to answer a knock at the front door. She was only slightly surprised to open the door and see Isabel standing there. They had met a few times, finding themselves at the trio’s home at the same time every now and then. Ann was surprised by the fact that Isabel had a man by her side. 

“Hey, Isabel,” Ann greeted the martial artist with a small smile.

“Hello, Ann. I’m here to see my exhausting daughter,” Isabel said with an exaggerated sigh.

“She’s upstairs. I’ll show you as long as you promise not to hurt James while you’re here.”

“Me, hurt your husband? Why the very idea,” Isabel remarked with a twisted smile.

“I’m so sure,” Ann commented dryly, rolling her eyes. She was all too aware of the hostile feelings Isabel held for her husband, especially since she had been around a couple of times when Isabel used the most colorful language she had ever heard while talking about the rocket scientist. 

Ann ushered Isabel in along with the gentleman by her side. He was a short fellow with wild auburn colored hair. He was shorter than Isabel by almost half a head. His reddish auburn hair was long enough for him to pull into a ponytail, but most of the hair was not in the tie that he had and had fallen into a sort of bang in front of his face. He had an odd eye color, purple. He was dressed very casually in street clothes of a plain basketball jersey and black cargo shorts, which showed he was a muscular little guy. He had black flip-flops, which was weird because the weather was not really right for such an outfit.

“Oh, this is Kane. Don’t pay him any mind,” Isabel remarked in an offhanded tone, speaking to Ann while motioning to her companion.

Ann glanced at Kane and noticed he did not seem to care about Isabel’s taunt. He seemed rather nonchalant, walking with his hands in his pockets and his eyes cast toward the ceiling. One would think he did not have a care in the world looking at him.

When they got to the room, Ann knocked on the door, which was closed. “Shego, you’ve got some visitors,” she called into the room.

“Damn it, Mommy. I asked for my fucking money, not a visit,” Shego huffed as she stomped over to the door and yanked it open. She was at a loss for words when she saw who was with her mother.

“Hey there, ‘Shona,” Kane greeted the former thief with small, very warm smile.

“Daddy, what the hell are you doing here?” Shego inquired, sounding more surprised than anything else. A good kind of surprise at that. Her lovers, sitting on the floor in the back of the room, once again held in chuckles and tried to get a good look at Shego’s father.

“Showing my support, doy. Besides, Isabel threatened to lop my head off with a rusty axe if I didn’t meet your girlfriends sometime soon,” he joked, laughing and smiling a bit as he spoke.

“You shouldn’t let that demon woman push you around like that, Daddy,” Shego commented, nodding toward her mother.

“Someone has to push him or he wouldn’t get off his ass all day,” Isabel remarked while rolling her eyes.

“So, how are you doing, ‘Shona?” Kane asked with concern.

“I’m doing fine,” Shego assured him, clearly holding back a smile. It seemed like she was trying very hard to contain herself, which she was. She had not seen her father in ages it seemed and she really just wanted to grab the little guy into a hug; she was taller than he was.

Shego controlled herself, though. She called her lovers over and introduced them to her father. He was very polite to them, smiling rather broadly while shaking hands with both of them. He had known about them ever since Isabel found out and, even though it was not known, he took then news much better than she did when he first found out. He thought their daughter being involved with two women was much better than her being involved with a maniac hell-bent on world domination, even though he was not very good at it. He suddenly sparked up a conversation quite easily with Bonnie and Kim while Shego and Isabel stepped off to the side to talk. Ann decided to leave them all alone.

“You’ve got to give me my money back as soon as possible,” Shego told her mother.

“It’s all getting done right now. What do you suddenly need it back for?” Isabel inquired once more. Shego had not brought up the issue of her money ever since she revealed she was alive. She seemed to be totally content with her life for the first time in a long time and did not need an abundance of money for that to happen. So, why did she want her wealth back now?

“Fucking crazy, but the three of us are butt-ass homeless. The landlord evicted us and we’re a bit too tired to fight that at the moment. Besides, why the hell should we rent a house, anyway? That’s just stupid. I need to start providing for them better than I’ve been doing. We were depending on Bonnie too much and she’s waiting to be fired now,” Shego answered.

“Shit, this little story has fucked you three up pretty good,” Isabel commented, shaking her head.

“No shit and I don’t know when it’s going to end. I don’t even know how this shit started. This is some serious bullshit,” Shego said with a sigh.

“You know, you should use those tickets now,” Isabel said, referring to the birthday gift she had given her daughter not too long ago.

“What? Now’s not the time to be taking a fucking vacation. We can’t close the school again either.”

“You three need a vacation. You should go somewhere and just relax and be around each other without any stress or bullshit involved. And then when you get back, the money’ll be where you left it, you’ll know if Bonnie has to look for a new job and maybe this thing’ll have blown over enough for that to be as easy as it sounds, you all can go house-hunting. If you want to stay in Middleton and house hunt, you can stay at my place until you find somewhere to live. If you want to go somewhere else, I’m sure your father will put up the hotel bill, right, Kane?” Isabel called.

“Yes?” Kane answered. He was actually volunteering for whatever she just told Shego and he was also responding to being beckoned.

“Nothing, dearest,” she replied and then turned her complete attention back to Shego. “See, your father has your back as usual,” Isabel commented with a laugh.

“You need to stop punking my daddy like that,” Shego said with a scowl.

Isabel waved her off. “I owned him long before you came along with your Electra complex, so I’ll do what I like to him. Now, seriously, you should use those tickets. Take your girls and get away for a while. I’ll get your brothers to teach your classes.”

“Which brothers?” Shego asked, leaning in a little. While all of the siblings knew martial arts, she disliked Mego’s style and she did not want Hego within a hundred yards of her school.

“The Wegos,” Isabel answered in a “duh” kind of voice.

“I don’t know if people would trust their little kids with the Wegos,” Shego commented, folding her arms across her chest. “I don’t know if our insurance covers the Wegos either.”

“Stop making excuses. I’ll stay with them to make sure they stay on point. You just go and relax for a little while. Don’t you think you and your girls deserve some time alone without every thing possible getting in the way?” Isabel inquired.

Shego looked over at Kim and Bonnie, who were getting along great with her father from what she could tell. She hoped he was not telling embarrassing stories of her, because, yeah, he would do something like that. It would be great for them to just go some place and not have to worry about anything at all. They could just focus on each other and just be together. It would be nice to escape from reality for about a month.

“Fine,” Shego agreed with a sigh, as if it pained her to do so.

“It’ll do you good, firefly,” Isabel insisted with a small smile.

Shego only rolled her eyes. She walked over to her lovers to see what her father was going on about. She was thankful he was not telling them anything about when she was younger. Instead, he was telling them what he had been up to the past few months, which had to do with mountain climbing and not getting killed by Isabel.

Shego listened instead of interrupting, which her girlfriends noticed. There was a sort of pride in Shego’s face as she listened to her father, too. It was clear to her girlfriends that Shego greatly admired this short, messy haired middle-aged man before them and they could not figure out why exactly.

Kane seemed borderline odd to Kim and Bonnie, but they did not mean that in a bad way. He just was not the type of guy they picked Isabel to be with and reproduce with. He made it seem like Isabel terrorized him, but that he enjoyed it. He also spoke about Isabel more as if she was a friend rather than a mate. Throughout the whole time he was there, they never did find out if he was Isabel’s husband or if they just had children together. But, by the time he left, Bonnie and Kim knew they liked him just as much as they liked Isabel.

The trio walked Isabel and Kane to the door when it was time for them to leave. Isabel practically pushed Kane out of the house when he tried to bid farewell to Ann. Kane laughed all the way out. 

The trio returned to Kim’s room and sat down on the bed. Shego wrapped her arms around both of her girls, pulling them to leave against her. They wondered what she was doing because she had never done such a thing before.

“Loves, I’m taking us on vacation,” Shego informed them as if that was the most natural way to open a conversation at the moment.

“Vacation?” they echoed with furrowed brows.

“Yes, vacation. We’re going to get away from all of this. Get our heads together and relax with each other in some sun and sand,” the pale woman stated.

“What about the school?” Kim asked.

“My mother’s going to handle it while we’re gone,” Shego answered. Kim could not argue that one. Shego’s mother was a world-class, world-famous martial artist, after all.

“I can’t go on vacation. I need to find a job,” Bonnie argued.

“Not at the moment, demon child. We’re going on vacation. We’ll worry about real life stuff when we get back. For the moment, let’s go live in a fantasy world where only we exist and what we want exists,” Shego said. They could relax and just get their minds together again.

Kim looked at Bonnie and smiled. Bonnie sighed; okay, maybe they could go get lost in a fantasy for a little while. It would be nice to not have to worry about anything for a little while. It would be nice to cut loose for a little while, too. Besides, it was not likely that she would find a job in climate that surrounded them at the moment anyway. So, Bonnie smiled, too. Shego mimicked her lovers’ expression. They were going on vacation. They really needed one.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: the trio go on vacation and learn more about Shego while Shego’s parents and brothers hold down the school. Hopefully, there will be a school to come back to.


	9. Yellow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters.
> 
> Thanks go out to Mouserr2255 and Kittendoll for their suggestions that appear in this chapter.
> 
> A/N: there’s some adult content in this chapter, so if three women being intimate bothers you… consider this your warning.

9: Yellow 

“I can believe I let you talk me into this,” Shego muttered, speaking to her mother. Isabel stood next to her. They were in the airport rather early in the morning, so early Kim and Bonnie were sleeping in the seats right next to them. 

“You deserve it and you should treat your girls out considering all of the shit you’ve been through. Just enjoy yourself and make sure they do the same,” Isabel replied, nodding in the direction of the sleeping pair.

“I’ll try,” Shego grumbled as if she did not want to do anything with her loves, which was far from the truth. She then looked around curiously. “Why didn’t Daddy come with you? He’s still around, right?” she asked. It was possible her father wandered off as he had a tendency to do when not properly chained to her mother. It was a trait her youngest brothers got from him. Hell, sometimes, she thought it was trait she got from him.

“Have you ever tried waking that man up at five in the morning? I could bury him right now and it would be all right because he’s legally dead,” Isabel remarked. No amount of threats could Kane out of bed that morning.

Shego frowned a little. “I thought he’d at least see us off.”

Isabel waved it off. “Like Kim and Bonnie are seeing you off?”

Holding in a laugh, Shego glanced at her girlfriends. “He’s going to help you with the school, right?” she asked to be sure.

“Yes, he’s going to help. Why do you act like he’s the competent one between us?” Isabel countered, feigning as if she was insulted that her daughter did not have more faith in her.

“Because if it wasn’t for him I know I wouldn’t be alive,” Shego commented, serious and joking at the same time.

Once again, Isabel waved off the words. “Details, details. I’ve got him and the twins are coming in to help too. So, your school is in capable hands,” she said and then she noticed how skeptical her child looked. “Okay, when I say ‘capable’ I mean I’ll keep them focused on the main task as much as possible,” she mended her statement.

“That’s what I thought you meant. You’ll take care of that other problem we discussed?” Shego inquired, speaking in code just in case Kim was not as asleep as she seemed to be. She actually did not mind if Bonnie knew the plan because she bet Bonnie would have been all for it, but the resident goodie-goodie might have had some concerns about ruining a woman’s life no matter how much the bitch deserved what was coming to her.

“The first problem or the second problem?” Isabel countered. She had a couple of things she was expected to do while Shego was gone. The second one was more a surprise than anything else they had set up. The second one was almost like a present for Bonnie.

“The first one.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s going to be handled most definitely. Did you take care of your end for that to get started?”

Shego nodded and then she went into a black duffle bag that was at her feet. She pulled out a manila envelope and passed it to Isabel. The elder woman flipped it open just to glance inside of it.

“Okay, so this will definitely be handled ASAP,” Isabel commented with a nod. That bitch was going down.

“Now that you bring it up, how’s the second thing going?” Shego asked curiously. She wanted that one done just as much as the first considering how depressed Bonnie had been lately. She really thought out of everything, even though she was infamous and Kim was famous, Bonnie was hurt the most by the slander against them.

“It’s going to go the way we want it to in the end, so it doesn’t even matter,” Isabel pointed out and her daughter could not help laughing to that one because her mother made a point.

“You make a point. Call me if you need anything else. Oh, and mail us the issue of _Kick_ with us as the feature if it comes out while we’re gone. Kimmie’s been dying to see it,” Shego stated.

“No problem on that. Just be sure that you all have a good time,” the middle-aged female replied.

Shego smirked devilishly and glanced down at her girlfriends. “C’mon, Mommy, us in that house, you really think we won’t have a good time?”

“You’d have to put forth a considerable effort not to,” Isabel concurred.

After a few minutes, the plane began boarding. Shego woke up her lovers and all three of them bid Isabel farewell with sincere hugs. Bonnie did not bother to ask how Isabel had managed to get to the gate to see them off when there was a certain point in the airport that was supposed to be open to ticket-holders only. She had noticed Isabel went where she pleased, much like Shego.

The trio did not have to put up with stares as they boarded the plane because they were somewhat in disguise. Bonnie had pulled her hair into a ponytail and wore her spectacles, which were only for show when she wanted to look more professional. She put on a little makeup to make herself look lighter as well.

Kim had on a baseball cap, hoping to hide her features. She had it pulled down to the point where it was almost impossible to see her eyes and she held her head down for the most part. She put on baggy clothes, thinking a different style would keep people from realizing she was Kim Possible.

Shego was the most difficult to disguise because her skin tone gave her away. They had all spent the better part of an hour covering her in a convincing shade of makeup to hide the green tint of her flesh. She hated it because makeup made her itch. She felt like she might die on the long flight covered in the layers of makeup. But, they gave her a convincing skin tone and she put in contacts, giving herself brown eyes.

Added to their disguises, they purposely flew the red-eye. Most people were too tired to focus on their own business, so they definitely did not try to mind anyone else’s. So, the trio hoped to have a peaceful flight. They did not have much to do on the flight, which would bug them all, even though they wanted to be left alone.

They stored their carryon luggage overhead and then had a mini-battle over who would get the window seat. Bonnie won the skirmish with some legal jargon, which included the old, schoolyard adage of possession being nine-tenths of the law and she happened to have the ticket with the window seat number on it. Kim and Shego snorted in aggravation over that and then just decided to sit where their tickets placed them, placing Kim in between Bonnie and Shego, who had the aisle seat much to her disgust.

“This is the last time I let you book tickets, demon child,” Shego complained as she settled into her seat.

“What’s wrong with you now?” Bonnie inquired with a sigh. It seemed like Shego was always crabby about something.

“I hate the aisle. Some dick always brushes up against you when he’s wandering the fucking plane like a lost turtle,” Shego explained in an annoyed voice.

“Well, maybe if you ask nicely, Kimmie will switch,” Bonnie commented as if it was the most logical thing on Earth, and to her it was.

Shego did not think that was a bad suggestion and turned her attention to their redheaded lover. She got to see that Kim was back asleep already, her head thrown back and her mouth hanging open. Shego laughed a bit and smiled to herself because Kimmie sure was cute in a dead sleep. Well, it would seem she was stuck with the aisle seat for the next seven and a half hours.

They settled in as the plane took off. Bonnie and Shego eventually joined Kim in slumber-land. When they all woke up, they found they did not have much to do, so they talked amongst themselves for a while. They looked at the onboard magazines and felt the urge to tear them into little pieces considering the fact that they seemed to be the lead story on all of the magazines.

“Bullshit,” all three of them surprisingly muttered at the same time in reference to the so-called news. They all looked at each other, realizing they had different magazines.

“Is it a slow news year?” Kim wondered aloud.

“It might be considering according to this article, you like having Shego in your dungeon,” Bonnie said, pointing to part of the article in her magazine.

“Why would Kim have the dungeon?” Shego sucked her teeth.

“Really? That’s the thing bothering you?” Kim gave her a flat look.

They were not surprised by the fact that people were still talking about them, even though it was a shock to Kim to find out how famous she was to the point where her sex life was selling so big. The hero was just happy that nothing too explicit came out considering everything that was being reported. They were prone to make things up or get things from “anonymous sources,” who claimed to know Kim well. But, for how well these people pretended to know her, they could not even figure out her relationship. The papers still had not even gotten it straight that they were a trio and not that she could not choose between Shego or Bonnie.

“I think I got one better for you. According to this, you…” Kim pointed to Shego. “You’re giving off some kind of pheromones when we fight and that’s why I’m hooked on you now. It’s all part of some evil scheme to drew me to the dark side.”

Shego scoffed. “The cookies make people want to join the dark side. Everyone knows that.”

Shego was not surprised on how much she was being reported on, but she was very glad those leeches did not find out much about her. She liked her personal life to stay private and even though a lot of the stuff being said were lies or misunderstandings of what was going on, it was still irksome. At least they had not been caught doing anything beyond kissing, she thought. They were a lot more cautious about things after they saw that first article. Still, she was sick of being considered “news” when there were a trillion more important things going on in the world.

“And so you don’t feel left out, demon child,” Shego said, holding up her article. “You and Kim have a lot of office sex behind my back, apparently. Why don’t you two ever call me for these things?” She laughed, but Bonnie groaned and rolled her eyes.

Bonnie was just worried about all of the bad press affecting her ability to get another job, especially since she kind of viewed herself as the breadwinner of their little family. It was that reason that caused her so much stress over her unemployment. She had been officially fired a few days before they left for the vacation. The reasons the firm cited were: distractive influence on others and the press giving the firm a bad reputation. She had been almost visibly depressed when she got the official word, even though she knew it was coming sooner or later. It was the only thing her law firm could do to save face, after all.

 _Why did they have to tell a lie about office sex?_ Something like that would definitely make it harder to find a new job if firms and employers and clients believed such drivel. Bonnie wondered what would happen with them if she could not find another job. They could not live with Kim’s parents forever, after all. Sure, the Possibles were hospitable and polite, but they needed to be out on their own.

Besides, they all noticed their presence left James a little uneasy. He tried, bless his heart, but he was not quite used to the idea of the three of them being together and they did think it was unfair that they were there in his face constantly, even though they did not do anything inappropriate in the Possible house. It was hard to be in the mood most of the time considering what they were going through.

Another consequence that could come of her not having work would be the fact that Kim and Shego might not be able to keep their school open, at least not without taking loans. They were just not bringing in enough money yet to stay afloat on their own, which was why the article from _Kick_ had Kim so excited. Maybe Isabel could loan them some money. She seemed to be good for it. But, Bonnie would rather not have to go there. She liked being the one who kept their heads above water financially. She liked taking care of them.

Bonnie would have continued on worrying about what would happen if she did not get a job, but Kim leaned against her to go back to sleep. Bonnie looked down at the redhead and smiled a bit. For some reason, the action reminded her that they were on vacation and she was supposed to relax, so she did.

For a while, Bonnie and Shego just sat there, bored out of their freaking minds. They did not bother watching the movie being shown, mostly because they were used to watching movies in a certain fashion and they could not do that on a plane. They got some drinks and food when those things came around. They also got some stuff for Kim, even though she seemed intent on sleeping through the whole flight no matter what. A little while after that, Shego got a demonically wicked idea on how to have some fun.

“Hey, demon child,” Shego whispered to Bonnie, hoping to avoid waking up their lover, even though she was talking over Kim.

“What?” Bonnie replied, also speaking in a low tone just because her green-skinned girlfriend had done so.

“Wanna have some fun?” Shego asked, smirking in a way that let Bonnie know her fun was someone else’s torment.

“Doing what?” Bonnie inquired with an arched eyebrow. She was curious and bored, so she was willing to at least entertain her love’s idea for the moment.

“Her,” Shego answered while pointing to the sleeping redhead.

Bonnie arched a confused eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“Watch.”

Bonnie did just that, but she could not see what Shego was doing. The pale woman leaned forward, but since they had their trays down Bonnie could not grasp what kind of trouble she was starting. And then suddenly, Kim hitched in her sleep and let out a soft moan. Bonnie’s eyes went wide; Shego could not possibly be doing what she thought she was doing!

“You’re not…” Bonnie could not even finish her sentence.

“Damn right I am,” Shego replied with a low laugh.

“Oh, that’s just wrong-sick. We’re in public and she’s asleep,” the turquoise-eyed female pointed out the obvious.

“I know. Just imagine what’s gonna happen when she wakes up,” Shego said with a wicked laugh.

“Oh, no. No, no, no, this is just wrong all around,” the unemployed attorney argued, shaking her head. She wanted no part of the “fun.” Kim let out another tiny moan. Apparently, Shego had no plans on stopping what she was doing. Bonnie glared at her and the former thief just smiled.

“If you say so. I know you’re gonna be laughing your ass off when she finally wakes up, though,” Shego commented, still looking like the demon that she had to be considering her actions.

Shego knew Bonnie was just taking the moral high ground for appearance sake and for when Kim finally figured out what happened and undoubtedly got pissed with the both of them. Bonnie would be able to say she had no part in the little joke and that she had advised their pale lover against it. Shego was just going to argue that Kim was not complaining about the prank while it was going on when the time came for her to get in trouble for what she was doing.

Bonnie watched on with unwavering fascination as Shego continued on. Bonnie figured it was not so bad since she doubted anyone else on the plane knew what Shego was doing. The trays covered her hand and Kim’s lap very well, so no one could see. Also, it was not like this was the first time one of them touched another in her sleep.

Kim let out a few more short moans and mews, each a little louder than the one that preceded it. She twisted a little in her chair. It was like she wanted more, but was not sure what more was.

Shego and Bonnie now held in laughter, both very aware of how wrong things were, but it was still entertaining and that was what mattered at the moment. And then, Kim woke with a jolt and a rather heavy moan, noisy enough to catch the attention of most of the passengers on the aircraft. Bonnie and Shego almost lost control as Kim looked around in a totally confused and perplexed manner, but also adorably sleepy. A flight attendant came over to make sure everything was all right with the trio.

“Um… excuse me, is everything okay?” the woman asked.

“Umm… yeah,” Shego answered, having to put her hand over her mouth to avoid laughing hysterically in the woman’s face.

The woman eyed the three passengers suspiciously. Bonnie had her head turned away, biting her lip now to avoid laughing out loud, even giggles escaped her. Kim hardly paid the woman any mind because she was trying to get her breathing together. She was breathing faster than most normally would and was rather disoriented while wiping away a little bit of sweat from her forehead. As soon as the attendant walked away, Bonnie and Shego let loose all that they had been holding in, laughing uncontrollably.

“I just had a weird dream,” Kim muttered, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. Her girlfriends only laughed harder. She looked between the two of them and a light pretty much went off in her head, letting her know that she was the source of their amusement. “What did you do?” she demanded in a low tone as she figured that she was the butt of some kind of joke.

“Nothing that you didn’t enjoy,” Shego answered while still chuckling up a storm. “Nothing I didn’t enjoy, too.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kim inquired through gritted teeth to avoid raising her voice. What was the world coming to when she could not sleep peacefully between two people who she trusted the most?

“Shego’s got a busy trigger finger,” Bonnie remarked.

It took Kim’s mind a second to catch the meaning of Bonnie’s words. Rubbing her thighs together, she realized her dream had been a little more real than she could believe. Her eyes went wide with shock and embarrassment. She turned to Shego, her head snapping in the direction of their typically cranky lover.

“You didn’t,” the redhead hissed, glaring at Shego.

“You tell me. You’re the one sitting in my hard work,” Shego teased with a devilish smirk.

Kim growled in anger. She could not believe her mischievous green-skinned lover! She wanted to scream at Shego, but she held off since they were on a commercial flight full of people. Instead, she stood up and stepped over Shego, even though the trays were still down. She groaned as everyone onboard stared at her as she got up. She tried to ignore the looks as she went to the bathroom.

“She was pissed,” Bonnie commented, still laughing.

“I know, but that was fun,” Shego replied, appearing quite satisfied with her handiwork.

“Remind me not to sit next to you on the flight home,” Bonnie said.

“Ah, you know you’d want it. Besides, you’re a bad girl, you’d probably return the favor,” the ex-villainess stated with a smirk.

Bonnie did not respond because she did not need to. Shego spoke the truth. Sure, she would be embarrassed, like Kim was, but it would be a pleasant embarrassment if Shego did such a thing to her, and did it right. She would also get Shego back when the opportunity presented itself, even though Kim probably would too, just not in such a public place. Bonnie would be sure to do it when there were a bunch of people around. She would want Shego to remember not to mess with her.

Bonnie hated the next thought that entered her mind, even though she did get a thrill out of considering it. Maybe she would sit next to Shego on the flight home and they could entertain each other without it being at the expense of Kim, who she knew would be mortified to find out that she was even thinking such a thing. It would be nice, though, if they could include Kim in on the fun.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Kim came back and flopped down in her seat. The redhead still appeared quite heated with what happened, tension dragging her face down into a scowl. But, Shego was not about to let up. There was still a lot of time left in the trip, so she needed something to keep her busy.

“What happened? Needed to finish up?” Shego inquired with a sickeningly sweet snile. Her emerald eyes were just dancing with mischief.

The redhead refused to indulge Shego’s immature behavior and just ignored her. Shego huffed because of the lack of response, but continued to try and prod Kim because she needed something to do. Kim ignored her the whole time and Bonnie suspected this was actually her revenge. Poor Shego fell for it hook, line, and sinker.

Bonnie just watched Shego fail, which was entertaining enough for her. It was hilarious to watch Kim play Shego so easily. If Shego ever realized it, Bonnie was sure it would bring about an epic battle, and she doubted Shego would hold back just because they were on a plane.

The rest of the flight was spent getting on each other’s nerves over little things. There was elbow space, foot space, having the overhead light on, and all kinds of other minor problems. It got to the point where a flight attendant had to come speak with them again, only to have her head practically bitten off by all three of them. The flight crew had never been happier to see three passengers get off of the plane than they were with that trio.

The ladies grabbed their bags and then had to go pick up their other luggage from baggage claim. Once they had everything, which was plenty, they went and picked up a rental car. They dumped everything in the trunk and then Kim and Bonnie had to get into it about who was riding shotgun. Shego was driving because she knew where they were going. Bonnie was about to use the same tactic that she used in the plane, namely just arguing Kim down with legal terms, but the redhead just hopped in the front as she got into her speech. Bonnie was incredulous.

“Baby, that’s cheating,” Bonnie practically whined. Kim did not get a chance to respond as the eldest amongst them chimed in.

“Just get your ass in the back, demon child, so we can get the hell out of here,” Shego barked.

Bonnie snorted in anger, but she did as ordered. She got into the backseat and they were off. The drive was not too long considering they were going into the middle of nowhere. They were currently on a tucked away little tropical island, heading toward what Shego just referred to as “the beach house.” When they arrived, it was not quite what Bonnie and Kim expected.

“This is a house?” the olive-eyed hero muttered as she got out of the car.

“It’s more like a palace,” Bonnie said as she stood next to Kim and they just gawked at where they would be staying for an undisclosed amount of time. The Mediterranean-style house, which was right on the beach, had to have at least fifteen rooms from the look of it. They had not even gone inside or caught a glimpse of the back.

“Fit for a princess,” Shego commented and she kissed Kim’s cheek. “And a duchess,” she added and turned to kiss Bonnie’s cheek.

“Oh, I get to be a duchess now?” Bonnie inquired, teasing a bit, even though she liked the new nickname. It certainly was better than “demon child” and now she felt like she was right up there with Kim in terms of Shego’s affections.

“Yes, you can be a duchess if it makes you happy,” Shego said with a bit of a sigh, which she forced out to keep up the appearance that she was annoyed. She thought Bonnie was just as much of a princess to her as Kim was, but she figured that Bonnie needed her own pet name.

“Is this your mother’s house or something?” Kim asked with a furrowed brow. She toes at the cobblestone driveway.

Rolling her eyes, Shego scoffed. “She wishes this was her house. It probably will be when she finally succeeds in driving my father to an early grave,” she answered, joking for the most part.

“So, this is your father’s house?” Bonnie inquired.

“Yup. All of this belongs to my father. Come on, let’s go inside,” Shego answered while hitting them both on the ass for no reason other than the fact that she liked to do that.

The two younger female yelped at the sudden gropes, but they did not say anything. They gathered their bags and stepped inside the house after Shego unlocked the double doors. They were left breathless as they entered the place and saw the inside.

“I’m pretty sure this is the very definition of decadence,” Kim muttered. It looked like they were inside of an ancient Roman palace. The floor was a tiled mosaic of a lively ocean scene with real and mythological creatures appearing in it, like dolphins and mermaids. The ceilings were high with crystal chandlers and white columns reaching the peak of the ceiling.

“Shego, what is with this place?” Bonnie asked in a low, amazed tone. She felt over-budget just standing in the house.

“My father has a thing for the Roman Empire. It doesn’t all look like this, but you guys are going to love the bathroom. There’s a deck out back, an indoor pool down that way,” Shego informed them while pointing to a hall down to their left. “There’s a little gym down that way, too. There’s a basketball court outside, but I don’t think we’re going to be needing that. There’s a pool table and other junk downstairs.”

“This is crazy…” Bonnie mumbled. She had never seen anything like the house and they were just in the front room. She could only wonder what the bedrooms looked like.

“Shego, how can your father afford something like this?” Kim inquired.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” the pale woman answered seriously. “I just want to wash all of this makeup off before I just need to peel my face off,” she commented. “You guys go ahead and look around.”

Kim and Bonnie shrugged while Shego walked off. They went to inspect the house to see if it was all decorated like palace, but they found that as soon as they got out of the lobby, things did change. They stepped into a sunken living room that was off to the right. It had dark red carpeting along with crescent-shaped, leather sofa and a television the size of a movie screen. There was a sound system around the place. There were also pictures around the place.

“Aw, look at the little Shego,” Kim said as she picked up a picture of Shego when she could not be any older than five; her skin was a light cream color at the time. She stood next to a brilliantly designed sandcastle and her father was behind her, giving a thumb’s up. They both grinned widely and it seemed a family resemblance shined through that.

“Wow, she was cute at one point in time,” Bonnie remarked. “She looks a lot like Kane in the picture, doesn’t she?”

“Yeah, I mean, there’s no mistaking that she’s daddy’s little girl in this photo,” the redhead commented. They had thought that Shego was a clone of Isabel, but it would seem that underneath it all, there was a piece of Kane in the pale smart-aleck.

Bonnie looked around at the other pictures. “It looks like she’s not the only one that takes after Kane,” she stated, pointing to a photo of the twins and Kane.

They looked through all of the pictures and found if they looked hard enough, they could see a bit of Kane and Isabel in all of their offspring. Kane came through especially strong if the kids grinned. The duo did not make it out of the living room by the time Shego came back. The eldest groaned when she saw that they were enthralled with her family photos.

“The cutie has returned,” Kim remarked with a smile when she caught sight of Shego, who had made sure to clean off every speck of makeup. She seriously hoped things died down for them before they headed back because she was not looking forward to over seven hours of caked on makeup again.

Shego rolled her eyes. “Okay, so you got to see what I look like as a kid. Big damn deal. I guess I’ll have to show you two around if I want to get you out of the living room.”

“Guide us, oh-cute-one,” the redhead commented, earning a chuckle from Bonnie.

Shego just sucked her teeth before leading them out of the living room. She pointed their attention toward the kitchen, but did not take them inside of it because she did not think that it was so important. She explained that according to her father there used to be a little pool right outside the kitchen where his parents kept live fish and eels for when they wanted really fresh seafood.

“This is really flamboyant,” Kim commented. She had never heard of such a thing.

“Sounds like my kinda people,” Bonnie remarked under her breath. She would like to be wealthy enough to be able to afford a fish-farm in her own kitchen.

“Like I said, my father has a thing for the Roman Empire and I’m pretty sure he got it from his mother,” Shego replied.

“Why is that?” Bonnie asked.

“He’s into his heritage,” Shego answered with a shrug.

“Kane’s Italian?” Kim inquired.

“Half. His mother was Italian,” Shego replied.

Kim and Bonnie nodded and allowed Shego to continue on with the tour. She took them to see the indoor pool and the small gym. She took them downstairs to see their large game room, which mostly had arcade games in it because of her father and brothers. The game room had glass walls, so it also gave them an amazing view of the sparkling beach right outside.

She then took them to see the main bathroom, which took their breath away. It was covered in black tile with a large vanity mirror and long marble countertop. There was even a black chaise in there for lounging around. Those were not the things that had their attention, though.

The pair was knocked away by the bathtub itself. It was a ground level top with four ivory statues of satyrs with jars surrounding it, as if they were pouring water into the tub. The statues were two-feet tall. Shego went and turned the faucet to show that the water did flow from the statues as well as the faucet. There was a hot-tub mode for it, too, but she did not show them that, figuring that it would make for a nice surprise later on.

The tub was large, like a pond. Big enough for all three of them to fit in with room to spare and they knew that was what Shego wanted them to see. She wanted them to get that idea in their minds and it worked.

“Tonight,” Shego whispered to them and they could only nod in agreement. They all smiled. The vacation was looking up already.

Shego was done giving the tour once the bathroom was over with. She figured she would hit them with the bedroom when they all decided to go to sleep. They all ended up in the living room, lounging on the sofa like they used to do when they had a house with Shego on the couch, Kim on her, and Bonnie on Kim. They turned on the television and enjoyed a movie like they used to. Occasionally, they caressed each other.

“I missed doing this,” Shego muttered in a sleepy tone. It was so comfortable she was ready to just drift off to sleep.

“Yeah, this is great,” Kim concurred in a low tone. Her eyes were halfway open, so it seemed like Shego was not the only one ready for a nap.

“We need to get a sofa and a place to put it to get back to doing this everyday,” Bonnie stated, holding in a yawn.

“We’ll do that when we get back,” Shego said.

Bonnie was going to argue it, but decided against that. She just wanted to revel in the feel of being close to her loves while on vacation. So, she snuggled closer to Kim while caressing Shego’s side. They were all silent for most of the movie.

“So…” Shego said in a long drawl, which let them know just what she was going to say.

“I’ll go start the water,” Kim volunteered.

“I’ll bring our bags up,” Shego said.

“And I’ll get the washcloths and towels,” Bonnie ended things. They were going to go take a bath in that gigantic bathtub.

The bath was ready in a hurry. Bubbles and all kinds of other things were added to the water, like bath beads and skin softener. The water was hot and beckoning them like a steamy siren. The trio did not resist the call, stripping quickly, and they climbed into the large bath. Despite all of the space, they were all quite content to stay huddled together like victims stranded in a snowstorm.

Shego leaned against the back of the tub while Kim and Bonnie made themselves comfortable against opposite sides of the eldest amongst them. Hands wandered leisurely, staying in places only for a few moments before moving on. They all sighed contently.

“So, are you ever going to explain how your father can afford all of this?” Bonnie asked Shego in a low tone, showing just how relaxed she was. She could not bring her voice up any higher than a whisper.

“Is it really that important?” Shego countered, rubbing Bonnie’s shoulder with one hand she had wrapped around the lawyer. Her other hand settled around Kim’s slender waist, caressing her hip.

“I guess not. Just wondering is all,” Bonnie answered. Her fingers drifted from caressing Shego’s arm to Kim’s side.

“Why?” the pale woman inquired.

“Because we were wondering if maybe you followed in your father’s footsteps or something,” Kim explained. She and Bonnie had been wondering if Shego had been trained as a thief perhaps by Kane since Isabel seemed to make her money honestly. It would explain why Isabel and Kane had not expressed any concern with Shego’s previous careers, even though it was obvious they knew about those jobs. In fact, from what they could tell, Shego did not really have any secrets from her parents.

Shego chuckled. “My father a thief?”

“Well, that or a mercenary,” Kim added.

Shego laughed again. “Well, I’m sure it could’ve worked if he wanted it to. He is an adrenaline junkie, but he gets his rushes from doing crazy things like mountain climbing, sky diving, and fucking my mom,” she remarked.

The younger pair groaned because of that last bit of the statement. Shego laughed a little more, amused with having gotten such a reaction with her words. Well, it was clear who she got her mouth from. As far as they knew, Shego and Isabel were the only mother/daughter duo who could casually discuss each other’s sex lives and had the bad habit of doing it in front of others. They just had no shame it seemed.

“So, what does your dad do?” Kim asked.

“Whatever the hell he wants to,” Shego answered.

Bonnie narrowed her gaze on Shego. “You’re keeping something from us,” she accused the eldest.

Shego turned her eyes up toward the ceiling, which had a mosaic on it. The picture was there to give the illusion of looking up at the sky. There were birds, clouds, the sun, and a rainbow with a few cherubs and such. Shego actually thought it was rather creepy, and always had from the first time that she had seen the picture, so she looked back down at her lovers.

“Shego, I think we’ve all been through enough to where you can trust us,” Kim stated soundly.

“I do trust you. You both know that. I just don’t want you to look at me differently,” Shego answered. She really liked the picture that her girlfriends had of her, the smart-ass malcontent, and she would rather things stay that way.

“We’re not going to look at you differently, so just tell us,” Bonnie gently urged. She started drawing tantalizing circles around Shego’s bellybutton as incentive to get her to talk.

“Yeah, you should know that by now.” Kim join in, her hand making sensual circles on Shego’s ribs. The former thief groaned, knowing she was now trapped. 

“This isn’t fair, double-teaming me,” Shego complained softly.

“You know you love it,” Bonnie commented and then she took a juicy nip at Shego’s chin. She then began to kiss her way down Shego’s neck.

“Yeah, so tell us,” Kim whispered while pushing herself up a little to take a gentle bite at Shego’s earlobe. She also worked her way down Shego’s neck, alternating from little bites to wet kisses.

Shego began panting as they worked on her, their actions getting more and more amorous by the second. _They work too well together_ , she thought. If she wanted to have any point of control for the rest of the night, she considered she was going to have to stop them. She tried to move her hands, but they caught on and held her hands in place. She was trapped and they continued on. She tried to hold in moans and whimpers, but they were just too much for her, especially when they both wrapped their lips around her aching nipples.

“Fine,” Shego caved in and then she hissed as a wave of pleasure shook through her. She twisted, not sure which way to turn for more. Their free hands grazed her hips and teased her thighs.

“Fine?” the younger pair echoed as if they did not know what she was talking about and then their lips were back on her.

“I’ll tell you. Just stop… or don’t,” Shego explained, spreading her legs for them. She did not even know what she wanted them to do. It all felt so good and it had been a while since they were able to just fool around without any concerns or troubles.

“You tell us and this’ll just get better,” Bonnie promised while lightly caressing around Shego’s core with one finger. Her other hand was still making sure Shego did not try to stop things that were happening. She moved mouth again, going back to Shego’s neck and chin. She kissed and licked those areas, knowing Shego enjoyed it when attention was paid to her neck.

“Yeah?” Shego asked in a hurried breath.

“Yeah,” Kim chimed in, her voice now slightly muffled as she remained at Shego’s breast. One hand kneaded the opposite lush mound while the other hand kept Shego from interfering or trying to take control of the situation. Her mouth busied itself by kissing the hill that was closest to her, but she now refused to latch on to the jade peak, taunting Shego because of the lack of contact at such a critical area.

“My dad… he’s a… he’s a… Fuck…” Shego hissed and stopped for a moment to try to figure out whose touch she wanted to lean more into since it was all so tempting. One of the things that she hated when they both targeted her was that she never knew what she wanted more of. It was all just felt so good that she wished she could just go both ways.

“Yes?” Bonnie pressed, still working her finger near where she was desired, but not exactly there.

“He’s a fucking count,” Shego said in a rush to make sure she was able to get it out.

“A count?” the younger ones repeated in confused tones. That answer was enough to actually get them to stop what they were doing for a moment.

“You know, like a nobleman and shit like that. Never mind, the point is that the guy’s fucking loaded, okay?” Shego informed them. “Now, either stop or just finish me off,” she practically ordered with frustrated growl.

Kim and Bonnie looked at each other and smirked. It would seem they had quietly decided Shego’s fate. The pale woman was well aware of what they had chosen as she felt their hands and mouths roaming her body once again, but with much more pressure now. It would seem they were going to finish her off as they finally touched the places that she needed them to. Shego almost drowned in the tub, but then again, Kim and Bonnie eventually almost did too.

“Oh, god,” Shego moaned, sliding down in the water.

Her girlfriends followed. Bonnie faltered for a moment, surprised to see Kim not letting up, even with her head submerged. Bonnie sat up more before she ended up completely under water. Shego saved herself and Kim by pushing back up.

“You like that?” Bonnie whispered into Shego’s ear before kissing her neck and easing another finger into her.

Shego’s breath hitched and her hips moved with Bonnie’s fingers. Kim’s attention continued to go from one breast to the next back to the first. And then at the perfect moment, Kim pulled with her lips and tongue and Bonnie slid her thumb against Shego’s pleasure center. Shego saw stars and slumped against the tub.

“Just so we’re clear, as soon as I catch my breath, I’m getting you both back,” Shego said, her chest heaving.

“I don’t think you have enough hands,” Kim teased.

Shego scoffed. “I got just enough.” She held up both hands and she put them both to use in no time. They spent a lot of time in the bathtub.

-8-8-8-8-

The trio was not done with each other in the tub either. When they retired to bed that night, they planned to be up late. It had been a while for them. Aside from the stress, it was damn hard to get in the mood when they were sharing Kim’s childhood bedroom and her parents were right down the hall. They did not have to worry about any of that now. Plus, the room Shego had picked for them had a huge bed that begged for them to do something active on, all night more than likely.

“Is this a guest room?” Bonnie asked. She had on a dark blue slip and it felt so good on her skin. It had been too long since she had been able to wear sexy sleepwear.

“Yup. And before you both go crazy, no, we didn’t have assigned rooms here, so there isn’t a little Shego’s room somewhere in the house,” Shego explained. She had on a black tank top and matching briefs.

“No assigned rooms?” Kim looked puzzled. Her pajamas consisted of a pink tank top with spaghetti straps and red boy shorts.

Shego shrugged. “We didn’t come here a lot. I don’t think my dad really looks at like it’s his place. It’s just a house he owns because his mother owned it. But, whatever. Let’s make ourselves at home.”

Kim and Bonnie nodded as they looked around. The bedroom was large, like every other room in the place. The floor was carpeted with a deep, plush blue rug. There was a walk-in closet, which they had all just thrown their bags in it for the moment. There was a white vanity and drawers for their things, but they were not worried about that right now.

Their main concern was the bed, which was covered in a dark blue spread with silk sheets underneath. There were a bunch pillows on the bed of different shapes and sizes; most of which they threw off as they settled onto the soft mattress. And whichever pillows were not casualties of that onslaught were lost to the night the trio spent together.

“This is nice,” Bonnie commented as they settled in. The bed held all three of them with no problem.

“Yeah,” Kim sighed.

“But, this is nicer.” Shego tore Kim’s top while she grabbed Bonnie into a kiss. The rough treatment was not a surprise and was quickly reciprocated.

They all practically attacked each other, tearing off pajamas. Hell, they all wondered why they had put them on in the first place. For much of the night, they seemed to mimic anacondas by being in one writhing mating ball. They did not care what they looked like. The important thing was that they were getting to be physically intimate again, reconnecting emotionally, giving each other pleasure, and they could be as loud as they wanted. The night was filled with moans and cries of passion.

-*-(New day)-*-

Isabel tried to ignore all of the noise that came from upstairs. The Wegos, whose real names were Wes and Wen, were upstairs with Kim’s class. It was a small group of hyper four-year-olds. There were only four kids up there with the twins, but they sounded like they had a pack of wild elephants up there. The Wegos were having a good time “teaching” Kim’s class. They were mostly letting the kids tumble around and show off what Kim had taught them.

“Little do they know, they’ll have to do some real teaching if the girls are gone for as long as they really need to be,” Isabel muttered. The Wegos could play around for a week, but Kim and Shego should be gone longer than that, so those boys would eventually need a real game plan.

Isabel had to handle Shego’s class and she was in for a surprise. She had been assured the classes were dedicated and fantastic students, even though they sometimes lost focus on what they were supposed to do. According to Kim, they lost focus because most of them showed up high, but Shego argued that was not true. Only a few of her students were stoners and they were actually good enough to get through their exercises, even when they were high. Isabel figured she would have to judge the group for herself.

Only two of Shego’s students showed up so far, a boy and a girl, and they were a couple. They were stretching while waiting for the others. Isabel frowned at the general lateness. There were people who would trample each other to death to be in a class with her and here she was waiting for a bunch of college idiots.

“So… is Shego okay?” the boy asked.

Isabel waved him off. “She’s fine. She’s on vacation to recover for all of this fuckery.”

The pair seemed to accept that for the most part. “It is a lot of bullshit,” the girl agreed. They went back to stretching for a minute.

“Hey, did Kim ever pick? Because of our teacher totally kicks ass and should’ve been the one,” the boy commented with a lighthearted smile. He was very sincere.

Isabel just laughed and dismissed the question with a flick of her wrist. The students continued on with their stretching and a few more people arrived, going to change and stretch before the class began. Eventually, it was a lot more people than expected, which shocked Isabel. She had been informed that usually no more than ten people showed up and that was before the “little incident.”

It turned out the new people wanted to sign up for classes. Some people even wanted to sign their kids up. Isabel noticed something about many of the newcomers, but did not voice what she thought they had in common since it did not mean anything to her. The new people who wanted to sign up for the class crowded her, which would not have been a problem, but it was too much chaos. Her suspicions were confirmed for more of them than she liked.

“Wow, if I had known the teacher was gonna be so damn gorgeous, I would’ve signed up a long time ago,” a woman commented with a seductive smirk while brushing up against Isabel, causing the middle-aged martial artist to jump in shock.

“Me, too,” another woman cooed while flanking Isabel’s other side.

She earned an annoyed look from the substitute teacher. Isabel took a calming breath and reminded herself it would not be a good idea to kill someone trying to sign up for her daughter’s class. A murder in a school rarely helped more people show up, after all.

“I definitely would’ve been all over this thing,” yet another woman said as she seemed to pop up out of nowhere in Isabel’s opinion and was suddenly on Isabel’s back. 

Isabel shook and had to bite the inside of her cheek to avoid reacting. A couple of more women joined in to sing her praises as far as looks went. She was not enjoying being surrounded by people who seemed more interested in her looks than in the class. She gulped and sweat ran down her cheek once the ladies around her got a bit… personal as far as their hands were concerned. Isabel went stiff as a board now, seeming to be unnerved for the first time in a long time. And then a hand gripped her ass. Isabel snapped.

“AHHHH!” Isabel screamed as if she had been shot and grabbed whoever it was that was behind her. She flipped the person, another woman, over her shoulder. The woman coughed in pain as she hit the floor, but Isabel was gone before that even happened.

The raven-haired substitute teacher dashed off into the backroom. She slammed the door shut and leaned against it. A long sigh escaped her and mentally she cursed. That was not a good reaction.

“Uh…Bella,” Kane said, looking up from the desk. He was going over the school’s books since he was around and he did not have anything better to do at the moment. Isabel caught his attention as soon as she bolted into the room and barricaded them inside.

“Kane!” Isabel practically cried and ran over to short man as if she was on fire. She flung herself into his lap, resting her head on his broad shoulders. Never one to pass up being close to Isabel, Kane wrapped his powerful, thick arms around her to comfort her for whatever reason that she needed.

“What’s wrong, Bella?” he asked in a gentle tone.

“There are lesbians out there,” she answered in a whisper, as if she was talking about something dangerous.

“So?” he inquired, rather confused. Isabel never showed any troubles with lesbians before. Their own daughter was a lesbian and when they found out about fifteen years ago, they were both all right with it. He did not know why she was freaking out about it now.

“They were hitting on me!” she hissed.

“Not the first time that’s happened,” he pointed out, still not understanding why she was bugging out about things. Every now and then, some woman did hit on Isabel, but it never bothered her before as far as he knew. 

“It’s was a whole group!” she complained. It certainly was the first time a quintet of women hit on her and had gone so far as to grope her, especially grabbing her ass. It was a first she certainly did not enjoy, especially since she really could not do anything about it.

“Okay, wait, a whole group of lesbians were hitting on you?” he asked just to be sure. These were important facts that he needed to get straight. 

“Uh-huh,” she answered in a rather pathetic tone, nodding into his chest. “One even grabbed my ass,” she added.

“And you didn’t call me to see!” he hollered in disbelief with his mouth dropped open. That was priceless on so many levels and she had left him out of it.

Isabel’s anger flared instantly. Her head shot up to stare daggers at him and then she punched him square in the chest, not padding the hit at all. He coughed as the blow landed and pain jolted through his system. Maybe she would just hit him whenever one of Shego’s students stepped out of line.

She then pushed herself from Kane’s lap, which caused him to whimper and fall back from the force that she had pushed away with. He pouted, sticking out his bottom lip, and reached out for her. He wanted her back in his lap and he almost looked like a baby who wanted his bottle. 

“I can’t believe you!” she barked at him, glaring down at him. Why did she even think she could count on him to comfort her in her time of need?

“Don’t be so angry, Bella! Can you blame me?” he asked, trying to force out a smile. It was hard to do with his chest bruising as they spoke. He was glad he healed quickly with the heavy hand she carried.

“You’re so useless!” she shrieked. Of course, this was a daily complaint.

Kane laughed sheepishly while getting up from his chair. He approached Isabel, even though she was still mad and in “assault mode.” She took a swing at him again, which he caught with an ease that would have scared most people. It was impossible to even tell he moved before the catch. He smiled at her as she decided against yanking her hand back, which she could have done just as simply as he had caught her. She simply made it a point to look extra-cross with him. 

“You should know by now, Bella, you only get one,” he remarked, causing her to growl.

“You’re so fucking annoying,” she huffed. 

“I do try my best,” he stated with a grin. “Now, are you going to let some lesbians feeling you up run you out of your own class? You promised Shona that you’d do this, so get out there and do it.”

“But…” she muttered and looked away. She was not sure she would be able to deal with rowdy students who had no idea what she was capable of.

“I’ll come out there with you!” he declared with his usual goofy grin. He was such a merry little man when he was around her because it got on her nerves most of the time.

“You will?” she asked with a narrowed gaze.

“Doy. You think I wanna miss the chance of seeing lesbians hitting on you?” he inquired, which earned him yet another blow. That hit handed on his head, causing him to fall to the ground. He would like to think she did not know her own strength, but that was a lie.

“Stupid husband,” Isabel grumbled, not feeling any sympathy for dropping her mate.

Kane did not respond. He sat up and rubbed his now sore head. She was going to be the death of him one day, he thought with a smile, but then again, he always knew that. He easily hopped to his feet and followed Isabel out of the room back to the main class.

Females swarmed Isabel again, but Kane kept watch and swatted away any wandering hands that ventured too close to his spouse. Isabel was pleased with his effort, especially since no one touched her with him there. She directed newcomers to Kane and he would sign them up for classes while she went to start the first morning class.

It turned out that there were so many new people because of all of the press that Kim and Shego had been getting. It would seem not everyone was appalled with their behavior and those people came to show their support, especially to a hero who had saved the world more times than any of them would ever know. There were also the people who shared their lifestyles in a way and wanted to show support for that.

Not everyone who showed up was a lesbian. There were just a noticeable amount of them since they had a good time hitting on Isabel. Most of the people who came in were teens or within the age ranges of the normal teachers. Kane handled everyone expeditiously, which was expected of him. Once he was done, he went to watch Isabel teach until the lunch break.

“We’re out of here!” the Wegos announced as they charged from downstairs, leaping over the banister of the staircase part way down.

“Just be back in time,” Isabel called to them.

“No problem!” they both replied with huge grins. “Coming, Dad?” they asked Kane curiously while pointing to the door. He was usually up for their madness, helping them get into all sorts of trouble.

Kane glanced at Isabel for a moment and then turned his attention back to the twins. “I think I need to sit this one out.”

The twins nodded before charging out of the building. They had had a good time with Kim’s students, so they were definitely going to come back in time. They might actually teach something when they come back.

“So, you actually didn’t want to go to get into trouble,” Isabel commented, speaking to Kane. They sat next to each other on the floor of the main classroom.

“Well, you’ve got trouble to get into. I’ve got a class to teach while you’re gone and everything. Can’t risk not making it back in time,” Kane remarked with a shrug. He leaned back and put his arms behind his head. If he went out and came back late, she would wail on him when she found out.

“You sure you learned everything?” Isabel inquired.

Kane chuckled a bit and just glanced at her. It answered her question just as well as any words. It was actually a stupid question, she knew, but she wanted to be sure that he knew everything that he needed to know to make it through the afternoon.

“You always were quick, even before the incident,” she commented. Well, he was quick in some aspects of life anyway.

“If not, you would’ve succeeded in killing me by now,” he remarked with a smirk.

“Just don’t go too fast for them.” 

“Me go fast? The very thought is laughable,” he stated, still smirking.

Isabel slapped him in the back of the head, still not padding her hits when it came to him. He lurched forward, hitting his forehead on the floor. He groaned and just stayed put where he landed. 

“Stop trying to act so cool, old man,” Isabel huffed.

“Why are you always so mean to me?” Kane whined into the floor.

“Because you’re such a worthless husband. Now, take care of the class. Don’t go too fast, but don’t go too slow either. Can you find a mix in between the two? Move at a relatively normal pace?” Isabel inquired, even though she had a feeling she was just wishing out loud with that one.

“I’ll try, Bella.” 

“Don’t try, do. You can’t be stuck between two extremes your whole life.” 

“I’ll try…” he mumbled, still staying on the floor. It was not his fault he was stuck between two extremes anyway. He had happily lived his life going at the same rate as a garden slug until _that_ incident.

“Do it for your little Shona.”

Kane nodded, still on the floor. Isabel was about to stand up and just leave him lying on the floor since he undoubtedly would take his time getting up, but she decided against that. She leaned down and picked Kane up. He had a bored look on his face like he did not care. She wiped away that expression away with a deep goodbye kiss to his lips. Groaning, he returned the kiss and whined when she pulled away.

“Try not to screw up, love,” Isabel said when the kiss was done. 

“Huh?” Kane said in a dazed tone.

Isabel giggled a bit; he was really the only person that could make her actually giggle. She was married to such a weirdo, she thought. But, he was an adorable weirdo and he was all hers. She actually would not have things any other way.

“I should be back before the second afternoon class,” she informed him.

“And I’ll probably be here,” he replied, lazily scratching the back of his head.

“You better be!” she barked, grabbing him by the collar and shaking him.

With the way Kane worked, there was always a chance that he might not be there. Sure, he might be back just as quickly as he left, but that was just irresponsible. He yelped from the rough treatment.

“Yes, Bella!” he agreed, hoping that she would stop shaking him.

Isabel shoved Kane against the wall and marched out of the building. She had some business to take care of, namely a certain reporter who started quite a bit of trouble. It was time for that woman to learn not to stick her pointed nose in others’ affairs, especially if that other happened to have the last name of Go.

Kane knew Isabel was going to start the wheels in motion for her and Shego’s revenge. He was not opposed to the idea and offered up his own connections to help. Isabel waved his offer off, though. It would seem she and Shego had everything in hand, which he expected. He just was trying to be of some help, which Isabel told him could be used on the second thing she needed to take care of. For the moment, he was just expected to take care of the first afternoon class. 

He yawned while waiting for the students to come in. There was a flood in the afternoon just like that morning with new students wanting to sign up. It was pretty much the same type of crowd as before. He quickly took care of the processing and then went to teach the class. 

The reason he had sat through the two morning classes was to see the routine Isabel did with everyone. He was now expected to perform the exercise in the same exact manner. He yawned again at the thought; repetition was boring.

He went through the motions, fairly slow. Many of Shego’s usual students passed him by in the exercise, knowing it fairly well from being in the class for a while. There were shouts from the back that he needed to speed things up a bit before they all fell asleep. He did as requested, but he was still too slow for their tastes.

“Hey, if we wanted to do Tai Chi, we’d go hang out in a park!” someone called from the back.

Kane was not bothered by the heckles, even though it seemed appropriate for a student under his daughter’s tutelage, and he just sped up some more. As he got more into the movements, his eyes flashed briefly and the next thing the students knew, their sub was a blur. They all stopped what they were doing and stared at him in disbelief. Kane noticed he was the only one moving and then he noticed how fast he was moving. He halted his actions and grinned sheepishly at the students.

“Um… let’s keep that little accident between us, huh?” he requested since Isabel had ordered him not to go too fast. He did not want her to find out he had lost control a bit.

“Um… Teach, what the hell was that?” 

“An accident,” Kane repeated. “Let’s get back to the lesson.”

“Wait, Teach, weren’t your eyes purple a little while ago?” 

“Are they yellow now?” Kane asked.

“Yeah.” 

Kane shut his eyes and shook his head, hoping to get his act together. When he opened his eyes, they were back to being purple. He knew he should have a better handle on that by now, but it was not something he wanted to practice on to get a better handle on it. He went back into the lesson while thinking about how his face was going to be meeting the hardwood again when Isabel found out that he had not obeyed her instructions.

Isabel returned before the second afternoon class as promised. She seemed very pleased with herself, smiling as she entered the building. Things had gone perfectly as far as she was concerned. There were a few students left from the class Kane just instructed and she heard them say something about the teacher moving so fast they could not even see it.

“KANE!” Isabel hollered. She left him with one task to do like a normal human being and he could not even do that, even for their little girl. He was so useless!

Kane sighed when he heard his name bellowed. He was in the backroom. He marched out to face his beloved spouse with a sheepish grin plastered on his face. Her fury was not sated with his expression in the least. 

-8-8-8-8-

“Oh, god, this was a great idea,” Bonnie commented while unleashing a short moan. She and her lovers were at a spa, getting hot rock massages.

“Oh, yeah,” Kim muttered.

“Thanks, sweetie,” Kim and Bonnie practically purred; their appreciation was directed at Shego, who had been the one to suggest the spa.

Shego was at a point where she could not even talk to respond to their thanks. She just waved her arm a bit to show she heard them and that it was no problem. They all concentrated on just feeling good after that. 

Bonnie was distracted for a moment as her cell phone went off. But, it turned out the call was not for her. It was Isabel, looking for Shego. She took the time to ask how the vacation was going and Bonnie let out a mumbled, almost incoherent “fine.” Her tone let Isabel know she should not even bother the attorney.

Bonnie passed the phone to Shego, who was barely lucid enough to greet the caller in her usual rude fashion. “Yo.” 

“Hey, I’ve started taking care of that first thing. I’m going to get to the second thing tomorrow. The school is fine, even though your father confused your students a bit in one class,” Isabel reported.

“Confused?” Shego echoed. She did not even have it in her to begin wondering what her mother meant by that.

“He got a little ahead of himself,” Isabel commented.

“That’s okay. They’re cool with that. I mean, I’m fucking green, so weird shit doesn’t freak them out. He can’t expect them to learn much if he’s going to zip through stuff, though. What the hell was he doing teaching, anyway?” Shego asked. “His style and our style, that’s two different animals.” 

“I had that business to handle, but he watched me all morning to know what to do. It’s all right. I’m not going to let him do it again. He hates that, anyway, says he’s not some tape recorder for me to use and playback,” Isabel replied with a laugh.

“You leave my daddy alone,” Shego muttered threateningly. She could not manage a real mean voice at the moment. 

“I’ll do with my husband as I please. He was mine first,” Isabel remarked and Shego knew she was smiling because of her tone. “Let me leave you to yours. I’ll keep in touch as things unfold.”

“Good.”

Shego disconnected the call and went back to solely focusing on feeling good. She handed the phone back to Bonnie, who almost dropped it on the pass back. They were not interrupted again.

After a day at the spa, the trio felt fantastic. All of the tension from everything had been worked out of their systems. They were ready now for some heavy duty shopping while they were out, courtesy of Kane’s credit cards, just like everything else that they had while they were on the island. 

The trio had a good time spending Kane’s money. He told them it was all right to go buck wild with the expenses and Shego assured her girlfriends he was not joking. They smiled and laughed together and then they hit a bump in the road. They ran into someone that Shego knew, a woman to be more precise.

“Shego, that is you. It’s been such a long time,” the woman commented, coming out of nowhere it seemed and embracing the ex-villain.

Shego yelped and scowled for a moment while her girlfriends frowned at the same time when the hug hit. It would seem they only liked sharing Shego between the two of them. They certainly did not like seeing some other woman hugging up on Shego, especially with the way the new woman’s body pressed up against their lover.

“Medea?” Shego asked, even though it was fairly obvious to her, but she did not get a good look at the person who had her in her grips.

“You know it,” the woman purred.

Kim and Bonnie now scowled deeply, but the newcomer did not pay them any mind. The woman known as Medea had straight, long ebony hair flowing down her back like a liquid onyx. She had on a short, cerulean dress that showed off her long, shapely legs and that matched her eyes. She had the body of an athlete, but curves to show off just the same and she showed off everything that she could.

“Get off of me,” Shego snarled, pushing the blue-eyed woman away from her. She did not want her lovers to get the wrong idea, but as she looked at their faces, she could tell it was too late for that.

“Oh, you’re not being the usual, friendly fire-starter I knew and loved,” Medea commented with a playful smile. 

“Loved?” Bonnie and Kim echoed, shooting looks of anger at their pale girlfriend.

Shego frowned. “Hey, don’t go looking at me like I’m the only one with past girlfriends here,” she snorted like an anger bull.

“Actually, you are,” Bonnie pointed out. She and Kim had only dated each other as far as females went. Shego only frowned deeper, as she hated it when her point was crushed by facts. 

“Hey, you look familiar,” Kim said to Medea, studying the woman a little closer now.

“Oh, don’t even get her started, Princess. Let’s just go,” Shego requested with an aggravated sigh. 

“Princess?” Medea echoed. “Oh, Shego, you gave away my pet name.” She let loose an exaggerated pout.

“What? I got a recycled nickname?” Kim inquired, glaring a little at Shego. And there it was she had assumed she was special. 

“What does it even matter? It’s just a nickname,” Shego countered, folding her arms across her chest. She was bothered with the whole twist of circumstances. She had been having such a fantastic time and now something irksome just had to happen. It was like the story of her life, she thought.

“Oh, yeah? How would you feel if the things I called you, I used to call some other person I slept with?” Kim riposted.

Shego opened her mouth, but she did not have a retort for that one. She took a deep breath to calm herself and to give her mind a chance to catch up with the argument. While she did that, Medea smirked and eased her way over to the former villainess. Shego noticed and immediately stepped away.

“Stop trying to start trouble, you silly witch!” Shego huffed, speaking to Medea. She growled in anger with her ex-girlfriend. She hated this woman so much and her actions at the moment only added to that.

“That’s it,” Kim realized with a snap of her fingers. “You’re Medea, the wandering witch,” she said, pointing at the blue-eyed lady. 

“Guilty as charged,” Medea remarked with a proud smirk.

“Who?” Bonnie asked, even though she did not care. She just wanted the woman away from _their_ Shego before things got loud. 

“She was a superhero from like a decade ago. She sort of inspired me to get into the hero business,” Kim explained.

“You need to learn to pick better role models, pumpkin,” Shego quipped, rolling her eyes.

“Oh, you’re on point today, Shego. Is that any way to treat the love of your life? Especially when you didn’t even bother to contact her to tell her you’d be in her neck of the world,” Medea commented.

“Love of my life?” Shego echoed incredulously with a face to match. She could not believe the words that left the nutty witch’s mouth, as if she did not recall anything that happened in the past. “And you don’t have a fucking neck of the woods. You wander, as your name implies.” What the hell was wrong with Medea? 

“I’ll forgive you, though if you come spend the day with me,” Medea stated and with those words it was like she pressed a button that opened Bonnie’s mouth.

“Like hell she will! You stay the fuck away from her, okay? She’s spoken for!” Bonnie latched her arm around Shego’s waist in a possessive manner that raised an eyebrow from the green-skinned woman. Shego was actually impressed and flattered by Bonnie’s outburst and surprising actions.

“You don’t look so tough. I’m pretty sure I could take her from you if I felt like it,” Medea commented quite confidently as she looked Bonnie up and down.

“Yeah, but to do that you’d have to go through me first,” Kim said, cracking her knuckles. “And, sure, I used to look up to you when I was twelve, but I can assure you, I’m over that.” She smirked.

Medea looked down at Kim, being taller than the redhead by quite a bit since she was wearing heeled sandals. The redhead’s eyes showed fierceness in her that was not negated by her body language in any way. She seemed pretty determined on putting Medea on her ass if she needed to or if the witch did not mind her manners. Heaven help Medea if she dared to touch Bonnie or Shego at the moment. 

Medea then turned her attention to Bonnie to try to assess the situation with her. Bonnie now had the same stern look in her eyes as Kim. Her body language and stance was the same as the redhead’s. It was like she was just as ready to pounce as Kim, as if she could do the same as Kim. Medea laughed a bit and rubbed the back of her neck, rather nervously.

“I guess what’s been spread in the news about you is true, but I would think that this one would be grabbing you,” Medea said, pointing at Kim, but she was speaking to Shego. 

“What’s in the news about me isn’t any of your damn business,” Shego replied.

“You’re so hostile,” Medea said as if she was amused. 

“Hmmm… could it have something to do with the fact that you’re an asshole, maybe? Just leave me alone and stop trying to start trouble,” the ex-thief commanded in a huff.

“Yeah, leave her alone,” Kim stated.

Medea frowned, not liking being shown up, especially in front of people who knew her on some level. She was about to move, but Kim flexed and put her hands up, ready for a fight apparently. Medea thought on things for a moment and then chuckled. 

“She’s not worth the trouble, ladies,” Medea commented with a smirk. She then turned and walked away from the trio.

“Fuck you!” Shego called to the retreating woman.

“Been there, done that,” the ex-girlfriend retorted as she continued on. Shego definitely was not worth getting beat up for, especially if it meant Shego would just leave with Kim anyway. 

As soon as Medea was out of sight, Bonnie released Shego rather rudely, practically flinging the elder female away. Shego took exception to that and turned to face Bonnie with some anger in her eyes. The younger female expected what was coming.

“What the hell was that for?” Shego barked. 

“How many other girlfriends are you hiding on this island alone?” Bonnie demanded.

“Are you kidding?” Shego hollered back, throwing her hands up.

“How many nicknames for us did you used to use on her?” Kim leaped into the argument, yelling just as loudly as they were. Her outburst made the eldest among them balk.

“Are both of you batty?” Shego inquired. She was incredulous to what was going on and that she was being yelled at for being assaulted.

“How many!” Bonnie demanded once again while stepping toward Shego, so hard they all heard her foot slap the pavement. She poked Shego roughly in the chest with her index finger. Kim was right behind the lawyer.

“Are you really this fucking crazy? I’m not hiding any girlfriends, you idiots! I didn’t even know she was here! I don’t even like that bitch!” Shego declared in earnest.

“Oh, yeah, well, she seemed mighty comfortable in hugging up on you,” Bonnie pointed out.

“I can’t control her actions any more than I can control yours! You can’t be mad at me for having relationships in the past. You guys might not have had girlfriends, but I know you’ve had boyfriends. None of us came into this with no past. Okay, so I used to date that thing back there. But, there’s nothing going on between us now. If anything, she probably thought I was dead until this news bullshit, just like the rest of the world, so stop trying to get on my fucking case!” Shego huffed, glaring at her girlfriends.

The younger pair was not satisfied. “How many nicknames, though?” Kim inquired. 

“Just the one. You gotta remember, Princess, I started off saying that to tease you, not as a term of affection. But, you’re a princess to me now, isn’t that enough? And if not, what the fuck do you want from me?” Shego countered.

Kim had the decency to be humbled by that answer. Bonnie was not done yet, though. The nerve of the woman who had walked off just left a bad taste in her mouth. The fury that had blazed through her when Medea had grabbed Shego was not yet sated. The burning jealousy just wanted more.

“How many girlfriends have you had?” Bonnie inquired, sounding rather suspicious, as if she expected a number with double figures.

“You know you don’t want to know because no matter what I say, it’s gonna be too many for you,” the former sidekick replied. She had played this game before with other lovers.

“How many?” Bonnie demanded once more.

Shego huffed and she was upset enough to tell Bonnie just what she wanted to hear. “Not that I keep score, but twenty-something.”

“Twenty?” Bonnie shrieked. Kim was taken aback by that response, too, and blinked in shock. The lawyer looked furious.

“Somewhere around there. Sometimes, it’s not always about having a relationship,” Shego said and she really did not mean that in the way as it sounded. Not every girl that she was with was a girlfriend per se. Sometimes, they had an understanding of just looking for companionship and company. Like every other being on the planet, she got lonely, especially when she decided to leave her family to walk her own path.

“I guess that’s how you were raised,” Bonnie commented and that lit a fire in Shego that was unexpected.

Shego reached out and grabbed Bonnie by the chin. She was not hurting Bonnie and she did not want to. She just wanted to make sure that she had Bonnie’s complete attention. She looked Bonnie dead in the eye.

“You don’t talk about how I was raised. You weren’t there and you don’t know. Don’t talk about my parents considering the gems you were blessed with,” Shego stated in an eerie calm, which showed just how upset she was. She could not even raise her voice because of her anger.

“Shego,” Kim said gently while putting her hand on the arm that held Bonnie captive. “Let her go,” she softly commanded. The order was obeyed after a second of glaring from emerald to turquoise.

“Happy now?” Shego asked Bonnie in a gruff tone. Bonnie looked away, obviously quite displeased with what just happened.

“You guys want to go back to the house now?” Kim asked since the good times seemed to have halted for the moment. “We could order some lunch and talk,” she added for them to know it was not the end of the world or the good times.

The two argumentative ladies agreed with that. They picked up some lunch on their way back to the beach house. They ate in the living room while watching a movie. They were silent for the most part and Kim sighed, thinking she would have to get things started, so they could move on and get back to enjoying the vacation.

“Shego, what did you mean exactly when you said sometimes things weren’t always about a relationship? You’ve had a lot of flings or something?” Kim asked.

Shego frowned, not really wanting to talk about it, but she knew she would have to. After all, she did not want her loves to think she was a whore or something. Still, she was insulted they would even have the nerve to think that without her explaining it.

“Look, guys, I’m older than you, first of all, so of course I’m going to have had more lovers than you. Besides, I’m a bit wild compared to you two, too. I’ve also been quite aware that I’m a lesbian since I was fifteen, so logically I’m going to have a lot of girlfriends between then and now. No, some of them weren’t girlfriends like you would think of them, but they weren’t meaningless flings either. The main point is obviously, I’m not with them anymore since I’m with you and you guys are stuck with me no matter how much you want to get rid of me because you just know too much. It’s either I stay or I’m going to have to kill you,” Shego remarked with a smile. For some reason that she could not figure out, she was kind of over her anger. Maybe because she realized subconsciously how stupid it would be to have a fight over something so silly at a time when they were supposed to just be enjoying each other’s company.

“Why’d you break up with Medea?” Bonnie inquired. Well, she hoped Shego was the one that broke things off. She wanted proof Medea was not the love of Shego’s life like she claimed to be.

“Well, we almost got caught together once and she got really scared about being found out being a public figure and all, and we were just teens, so she had her parents to worry about. I didn’t really care. I was kinda out, but she made a big thing about it and about how we had to be careful, blah, blah, blah. She did a lot of lying to cover up that we were going out and I wouldn’t have cared if only she wasn’t lying about me. It got to be such a pain being with her and it was so stressful. She didn’t even care about the toil it was taking on me to put up with all of the hiding and lying. She’s just a real asshole and she had the nerve to be shocked and cried when I called things off,” Shego answered.

“Was she your first girlfriend?” Kim asked curiously.

“Yeah and I had sworn off heroes thanks to her, but then a certain little Kimmie-cub came around,” Shego remarked with a teasing smile.

“Don’t call me that,” Kim grumbled with a blush rising in her face. “Shona,” she added as payback.

“Hey!” Shego barked and Bonnie started laughing. “Oh, no, you don’t, Bon-Bon,” the pale female stated smugly, hoping to shut at least one of them up.

“Don’t get me started, firefly,” Bonnie shot back.

The trio went back and forth teasing each other lightheartedly. They put the jealousy and anger behind them easily, feeling reassured in the relationship just from the way they slipped into the taunting each other. They were obviously comfortable with each other, much more than they were with any other mates that they had ever had. Once they finished lunch, they went to go spend their time the way that they had been doing for the most part, which was relaxing on the beach.

Shego set up her lounge chair and flopped down to soak in some beautiful tropic sun. She did her lying around in the nude. Kim charged past her, through the pearly white sand and dived right into the crystal blue water to do some swimming. Kim had on a one-piece bathing suit. Bonnie decided to set up near Shego since she had gone swimming with Kim yesterday. She also wore a swimsuit, but a very skimpy black bikini.

“This is perfect,” Bonnie sighed, especially since the beach that they were on was private, so they did not have to put up with a crowd or being hit on or anything. They could just relax.

“And we can do this indefinitely,” Shego pointed out.

“I can see why you’re a spoiled brat,” Bonnie remarked with a content smile plastered on her face.

Shego glanced at Bonnie and saw her expression, so she decided not to fire back. She just settled into her chair and eventually fell asleep for a while. When she woke up from her little nap, she was surprised to find that she shared her lounge chair with both of her girlfriends. They were curled up on her sides. She suspected it was partially because the air was getting chilly as the sun began to set and they were right on the water. She smiled at the cute sight and put her arms around them to keep them close and warm before going back to sleep herself.

-*-(New day)-*-

“Kane, I require you,” Isabel said as she entered the backroom of their daughter’s school.

Kane perked up immediately, looking up from the desk. “Oh, I’m useful suddenly.” He was genuinely pleased with that. It was so rare for his wife to admit to needing him for something, so it was a pleasant surprise.

“I have one last favor to do for my little firefly, but everyone’s being so difficult,” Isabel informed him, feigning a pathetic pout just to get him even more emotionally involved than the fact that the favor was for their daughter. Besides, every now and then she liked to stroke his ego. It was rare, but he deserved it.

“Well, who do I need to make less difficult?” Kane inquired with a devilish smile. He had no problem with starting trouble for his family.

“My favorite law firm. I want them to hire Bonnie since she’s so stressed out over not having a job. Firefly gave me her resume and everything and I’ve been told that they just don’t have the space,” Isabel answered.

Kane nodded. “I’ll see what I can do. I’m shocked they didn’t bend to your will, though,” he commented seriously. It was only once in a blue moon, if that, where his _bella_ was denied something she desired, but he would change that.

“Imagine my surprise,” Isabel grumbled, disliking that someone had actually stood up to her. It seemed like they took her threats as idle, even though they should have known better than to do such a foolish thing. She was not interested in bringing them to their knees, as she had better things to do. She was still playing puppet master with little Tina the feisty, now ex-reporter for breaking the story of Shego and her girlfriends.

“So, Bella, what should I be doing? Scare? Crumble? Crying at your feet? How much crap do you want me to put them through?” he asked with a smile. There was no real limit to what he would do for her, after all, mostly because she never asked for something he believed to be ridiculous.

“Just get them to hire Bonnie, so she can stop worrying about things and they can get back to some form of a normal life.”

“Consider it done already.”

“I’ll consider it done when you actually do it,” Isabel commented. “Maybe I should pin a note to your shirt, so you don’t forget.”

Kane laughed. “I’m not that old.”

“You were that old when you were twenty. If you recall, I used to have to write notes on your hand when you were watching the kids,” she pointed out with a teasing smile.

“You never gave me a chance, Bella,” he replied with a wide grin.

“I gave you a chance and you lost Shego with the laundry,” Isabel reminded him.

Kane laughed again. “She was a slippery one, my Shona was!” he argued with a grin. He had not really lost little baby Shego, but Isabel liked to taunt him about it.

The couple went on with their work for their daughter while she was relaxing, not just with the school, but with “the first problem” and “the second problem.” The first problem was revenge against Tina, which was going well as far as the avengers were concerned, while the second problem was getting Bonnie employed at a rather prestigious law firm.

The problems were just as fun to take care of as the school, especially as far as Isabel was concerned. She had already taken Tina’s job and home from her and she would not be getting replacements for those until Isabel and Shego felt like it. Isabel sought more to do to the former reporter before she would let Tina know who it was that currently owned her. Maybe if she begged and cried enough, Isabel and Shego would forgive her one day, long in the future, _maybe_. They doubted, however, that Bonnie would ever forgive her.

Kane’s handling of the second problem was rather swift. He had connections in very high places, much like his daughter had connections in very low places; Isabel covered whatever ground they missed. He leaned on the law firm through some rather powerful friends and he just waited for them to break, which was inevitable as far as he was concerned.

-*-(New day)-*-

Shego went to answer a knock at the door of the beach house. She was in a very short black bathrobe, but did not care. There was a deliveryman there with a thick manila envelope and his eyes nearly fell out of his skull when he caught sight of her. She had to sign for package, which she did quickly to avoid having to destroy the deliveryman for ogling her. She slammed the door in his face and opened the package to see what had been spent. She pulled out a short letter, informing her the problems were taken care. In fact, the first problem was still “suffering beautifully.” She smirked, a wickedly content expression, as she lit up her hand and disposed of the letter through her plasma.

“Shego, who was that?” Kim called from upstairs.

“Just a package. The issue of _Kick_ magazine finally came out,” Shego answered back as she charged back upstairs. She dived onto the bed, which was where the trio planned to spend the morning as they had been doing.

“Oh, let’s see,” Kim grinned, rubbing her hands together.

Shego pulled the magazine out of the envelope and turned to find the article on their school. They all smiled when they saw the first photo, which was of all three of them. They beamed with pride as they read the sparkling article that Sherm wrote on them. In the end, he even made it a point to denounce the rumors going on about them and told his readers to “just give the school a try because it was a great place to be.”

“That was nice,” Kim commented.

“Yeah, that was great,” Shego concurred and then she flung the magazine across the room. “But, this is better,” she remarked and she attacked Kim since the redhead was closest to her. Bonnie joined in and they spent their morning as they had since the vacation started, naked and writhing.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: a little break from our scheduled tale.


	10. Intermission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. Well, no, I own the characters in this chapter.
> 
> A/N: sexual relations of the heterosexual kind. If this bothers you, consider yourself warned.

10: Intermission

“Oh, my god, who let this fucking bum in the house?” a teenage Isabel hollered in irritation. Her emerald eyes shone with fire in them as her anger flared like a volcano violently erupting because what was happening.

The house that Isabel was referring to was where she was currently standing. It was a mansion, close to a palace in her opinion. The vaulted ceilings were white and gold, as was the tiled floor. There were ivory columns around in the space that she was stood, which was the lobby of the magnificent house with two male actors.

A movie was in the process of being shot and she was trying to choreograph a fight scene. It was her first solo job and she was trying her best not to screw it up. Thanks to the decided bum walking into the shot, she fairly certain that she was doing just that. She would never hear the end of things from her mother if she managed to botch things on her first run out on her own.

The bum that Isabel was referring to was a young man that seemed to have densely wandered onto the set. He was short, but muscularlike a bodybuilder. His short, reddish auburn hair went off in every direction imaginable, as if he had just rolled out of bed and his hair had a mind of its own. His skin had an olive tone to it and his strange eyes, purple in color, were droopy to the point where it seemed safe to assume that he had just woken up or was intoxicated from something or any combination of things. He wore a white v-neck t-shirt that had holes in the right armpit, collar, and abdomen. He rubbed his eye with his large hand, seemingly unaware that he had just stepped into a movie set. He also seemed rather unaware of the danger that he was in by angering Isabel.

“What the fuck?” Isabel shrieked because of the situation. A deep scarlet rushed up her pale face as tension caused veins to pop in her neck. “Manny!” she hollered loud and heated enough to get the actors that she was supposed to be leading to back away from her. They expected her to burst into flames because of the way her temper ignited.

“Oh, dammit,” the director of the movie muttered and palmed his face briefly. He happened to be Manny and he knew that when Isabel said his name like that, it was not good. He actually contemplated pretending like he had not heard, but that would only upset her more, which was terrible for business and the wellbeing of everyone around.

Manny turned around from what he was doing, fixing his sporty spectacles to see what made the temperamental fight choreographer sound like she was going to rip his intestines out. He and the crew definitely would not put such a thing past her. He then spotted the decided “bum” and trotted over to him.

“Kane, what the hell are you doing here?” Manny inquired with his chocolate features twisted in utter confusion. He was much taller than the “bum” that he obviously knew. He was skinny, but looked almost as thin as a rail compared to the bum and his thick athletic build.

“Trying to get breakfast, but it’s pretty damn crowded … and loud,” Kane answered while glancing over at Isabel. He was eighteen years old. His youthful face, though tired, still managed to look vibrant, which was the vibe that he gave off even while exhausted. “And hot,” he decided with a grin after giving Isabel the once over. _Yeah, it’s definitely loud and hot_. The latter now concerned him much more than the former.

“Don’t even go there, buddy,” Manny said when he noticed Kane checking out the raven-haired fight choreographer.

Considering the fact that it was kind of warm, even in the air conditioned house, Isabel was wearing some rather skimpy shorts that showed off her milky, shapely legsthat seemed to go on forever. She had on a t-shirt that hugged her torso just right, showing her generous bust size and perfect shape. Her face was nothing short of beautiful, highlighted by usually bright emerald eyes, and crowned off with a flowing river of ebony hair that fell to the small of her back.

Yes, Isabel was very hot, Manny would never argue against that, but she was also … well, Isabel. He suspected that the figure, curves, face, and hair of that woman was to make her tolerable enough to be around when a person knew that at any given moment, she could lose her amicable demeanor and destroy everyone in the room. Isabel was like a ticking time bomb in his opinion. But, she did design one hell of a fight scene and since she was generally good-natured, he did not mind being around her most of the time.

“I gotta go there. What do you think she’d do if I grabbed her ass?” Kane wondered aloud with a sleepy, but cheeky grin on his face.

“Yeah, because we both know girls love it when strange men grab their asses,” Manny remarked sarcastically with a deadpan expression. “She would totally kill you, Kane. And I’m not even talking about a pleasant, wonderful, the pain-stops-quickly death,” he explained as best he could, even though he had a feeling that he would not get through to the auburn-haired teen.

Kane shrugged. “Some deaths are worth it,” he said with a yawn. He rudely just opened his mouth wide as he inhaled deeply, not bothering to cover it at all.

“You don’t want to do that. Trust me, you’ll lead a much happier life if you just leave her alone. What are you doing here, anyway?” Manny inquired somewhat forcefully and he hit Kane in his barrel chest with the back of his hand as he posed the question.

“Wasn’t I coming back today?” Kane asked curiously. He squinted his eyes and scratched the top of his messy dark red hair as if bemused by the inquiry. For him, it was obvious that he was back when he said that he would be. 

“No, you said next week. You didn’t climb any mountains in a week, right?” Manny pointed out.

Kane’s strangely purple eyes widened a little in realization. “Oh, I changed my mind on that. Ended up going and doing some cliff diving and camping out for a few days. Sorry, I came back early. I’ll try not to get in your way.”

Manny rolled his dark brown eyes, showing his disbelief for that vow. Kane not get in the way? _Yeah, and then pigs’ll fly to the moon_ , Manny thought. He knew that Kane would not get in the way with malicious intent. Trouble just followed Kane and his odd nature like a happy shadow.

“Well, gonna go have me some fried eggs,” Kane announced and he was about to walked away, but Manny grabbed him by his broad shoulders. 

“Kane, seriously, stay away from Isabel. You damn sure won’t like it if you piss her off,” Manny tried to assure Kane.

The auburn-haired teen just shrugged his friend off and Manny knew that Kane was probably going to get himself killed. It was just the type of person Kane was. When he got an idea in his head, no matter how bad or stupid it was, he had to go forth and get injured by it. Manny just sighed.

“Kane, she’ll kill you if you grab her ass,” Manny seemed to promise the short fellow.

“It’ll be worth it,” Kane replied with a delighted smile as he rubbed his hands together, as if he would welcome death if he got the chance to do as he desired.

Manny sighed again and shook his head, knowing that he was wasting his time. He decided to leave Kane to get slaughtered. He was well aware that Kane would harass Isabel, no matter how much he warned the violet-eyed young man. He sighed again and went back to his own work while leaving Kane to his own devices. Maybe if Isabel did not hurt Kane too much, they could all get the scenes shot and be out of there before Kane got upset, not that Manny had ever seen Kane really upset. It was just that he doubted that the eighteen-year-old would take kindly to being beaten up in his own home, even if a lovely lady was doing the beating.

Kane yawned again and began scratching his head while lazily approaching Isabel. She was still fuming over the fact that she had been interrupted. Her slightly pale face was scrunched up from her fury, but all Kane could think was that she looked beautiful when she was angry. Her emerald eyes seemed to spark with energy; sure, it was murderous energy, but it was still fascinating all the same. _Oh, you must tempt Fate_ , his mind ordered him.

Isabel blew off some steam by hollering at the two actors that she was supposed to be designing the fight between. They wisely took their scolding, having found out early on that replying to her when she went on a rant resulted in horrible pain along with belittling and demeaning comments toward their manhood. So, the two grown men stood there like toddlers being reprimanded by an infuriated mother for having broken the rules of the house. And then, the admonishment suddenly stopped. 

Isabel squeaked like a mouse out of the blue while her face twisted from fiery anger to unpleasant surprise before settling into homicidal indignation. She turned around on her heel, coming into a right hook punch, which landed right on the cheek of Kane. It was quite the wakeup call for him as his teeth rattled in his skull.

The sound of knuckles meeting bone echoed through the large, open hall and everyone grimaced as the blow landed, crunching upon impact. Kane himself hardly made a sound when the punch connected, but he fell back almost a whole foot while holding his thoroughly injured cheek. He did not collapse to the ground, but his legs wobbled like he was in an earthquake occurred directly underneath him as he rubbed his sore face. _Oh, she is a dangerous one_ , he noted with an internal smile, which only intrigued him more.

“Are you fucking insane!” Isabel screamed at the auburn-haired young man. He had just cupped her rear-end as if it was his property.

“Is that a trick question?” Kane countered with a shameless grin. To do so, he had to ignore the throbbing in his cheek. They both knew that he had to be out of his mind to do what he just did.

“What the fuck is this bum still doing here?” Isabel demanded from whoever had an answer, not that she would like the answer considering the mood that she had worked herself into. Any response that did not involve throwing him out would undoubtedly just piss her off more, which why was no one chimed in.

“Hmm … a bum, you say,” Kane commented with an amused smile.

“Get out the hell of here before I throw you out,” Isabel stated with a frown.

He could tell that she meant those words from the furious look burning in her quite enchantingeyes. _I_ _f her punch is any indication of her strength, she probably wouldn’t have a problem throwing my little ass out_. Still, he continued on being himself with her.

“You gonna throw me out of my own house, Bella?” Kane inquired with a bit of a pout, as if he was heartbroken to hear such a thing. The nickname came out just because she was beautiful and he felt like he was speaking the stone-cold truth when calling her that. She did not take kindly to it, though. 

“Your house? Bella?” Isabel’s face turned bright red in an outrage by what she felt was a scandalous lie regarding his claim on the house. The fact that he was acting so casual and friendly with her only served to fuel her blazing anger. She did not even know his name after all and he had already taken all sorts of liberties with her.

Isabel, long ago at the end of her patience, took another swing at Kane. It seemed like she was actually trying to take his head off with that blow. The whole film crew grimaced before the hit even landed, appearing as if they had just witnessed the worst train accident of all time. They expected Kane would be down for the count when the blow finally did crash against his cranium, but found that they had reacted too soon. Kane did an amazing thing; something that everyone else would have thought was impossible. Kane caught Isabel’s fist. 

“You only get one, Bella,” the tanned male remarked with a proud, almost teasing smile.

Isabel was incredulous and embarrassed by the fact that a perverted bum had stopped her move. She let loose a shrill scream in pure frustration, sounding like a dying bird, while yanking her hand back. Manny decided to step in before Kane made Isabel explode and she subsequently murdered Kane and maybe everyone else to vent her erupting temper. Manny flung his arm around Kane’s shoulders and quickly walked the teen away from the stressed out fight choreographer.

“What about that breakfast you were trying to get?” Manny reminded Kane as he pulled the shorter male away from Isabel while she was too upset to have the presence of mind to tear them both apart like a hungry lioness.

“Breakfast isn’t all that important when you got girls like that in my house,” Kane remarked with a lecherous grin, having the nerve to wiggle his dark red eyebrows while speaking.

“Look, Kane, Iz is having a tough time right now, so try not to bother her. She’s got a lot to prove with this movie and the actors aren’t as competent as I promised her they would be, so she’s really stressed and frustrated. Don’t…” Manny was not sure what he wanted to say, so he trailed off at the command that he was attempting to get out.

“Be myself?” Kane offered coolly. 

“Yeah! Don’t do that,” Manny implored his friend, desperately begging from what the purple-eyed teen could hear in his voice.

Kane laughed, not taking offense to the plea. He decided to go off and have his breakfast while Manny tried to gain some kind of control over his crew and the set. Isabel was still fuming, her stance tense and stiff as a marble statue while on the inside she was feeling something that equal to a solar storm. Everyone eyed her, just waiting for the flames of Hell to radiant off of her and destroy them all. Manny sighed as he cautiously approached the furious teenager and hoped that she did not take her anger out on him. Silently, he told himself that he had to learn to stop working with his insane friends. 

“Isabel,” Manny said in a calm, gentle tone.

She turned sharply to stare poisonous daggers at him. He gulped, silently praying that he would not get the beating that had been intended for Kane. He would never survive such a thing.

“Who the fuck was that?” Isabel demanded. Her hands were balled up into such tight fists that her manicured nails were biting into her flesh enough to draw blood. The pain was not even registering to her brain because there was no room for anything in her mind aside from her stress, aggravation, and rising ire.

“That’s just Kane Go. He was supposed to be off mountain climbing for the next couple of weeks,” Manny tried to explain.

She growled. “So? What the hell is he doing here?” she inquired. She sounded like a furious dragon, a dragon that no one around would even think to try slaying.

“Oh, this is his house,” Manny replied as if he was surprised that she did not know, even though it was not common knowledge.

Isabel blinked a couple of times and appeared taken aback by that, even though Kane had already expressed that the place was his home. She obviously had not believed him when Kane said it. _Who could or would believe that a boy that looked like him could own a place like this freaking castle?_ The house was like a palace and Kane was…well, a bum from what she could tell. He looked like a hobo. Manny would describe Kane more as a vagabond, but the idea was still pretty much the same.

“This is his house?” Isabel echoed in shock. Her eyes narrowed in more suspicion than her being incredulous. _I wonder how he came across this place?_

“Yeah, this is his house. He wanted to help out with my first movie, so he offered up his house for a lot of the scenes. Don’t worry about Kane. He’s harmless,” Manny tried to assure Isabel. 

“Harmless? He grabbed my ass!” she pointed out with her eyebrows bent in defiance and rage that he would dare describe that little filthy lecher as “harmless.” It did not help matters that she had on shorts, so he grabbed meat, not cloth when he groped her.

“Yeah, he’s _relatively_ harmless. He’s a weird little guy,” Manny said with a chuckle and a shrug, as if that excused Kane’s behavior. It more explained the short fellow than anything else.

“Well, keep your weird little guy the fuck away from me. He gets in my damn way again, I’m fucking beating his little, leprechaun ass,” the emerald-eyed female declared with clear sincerity.

Manny shrugged again; he did not care if Isabel cracked Kane’s skull really because he did not doubt that Kane would deserve it considering the fact that he had already been warned. Kane was tough, anyway. If anybody could handle Isabel, it would be that crazy little guy, Manny figured. He did not want to leave it all on Kane, though, and decided to throw in the one thing he could say.

“Just try not to kill him. He’s not only offering his house and a few other locations, but he did give up a nice amount of money for us to make this thing,” Manny explained to Isabel. If Kane died, they would lose a lot of financing and might have to stop production. Not to mention, he would have to take time out of his life to attend the funeral for his friend.

“Oh, you’re fucking kidding me,” Isabel groaned and she threw her hands up. “I’m not being nice to that little snot,” she vowed, pointing at Manny. “There was no fucking way in Hell that I’d ever be nice to someone that actually fucking violated me!”

“I didn’t say you had to be. Just don’t kill him,” Manny replied in a nonchalant voice, shrugging his narrow shoulders. “Maybe spit on him if he’s on fire or something, which with Kane could actually happen, but nothing beyond that.”

Isabel grumbled, but she did not make any promises. If she had to, she would take Kane down, snap him in half, and not lose a bit of sleep over it. No one just took liberties with her person and grabbed her ass as if it would go unpunished.

She huffed to get it out of her system and then turned to the idiots that Manny wanted her to believe were competent martial artists. They could barely perform a simple kick move! She was going to have to revamp her whole idea to make up for their shortcomings to avoid looking like she had no clue as to what she was doing. She wished that they had the money to hire some stand-ins, considering the fact that she knew a number of people that would jump at such a deal.

Things eventually calmed down and the crew went back to work until Kane returned a few hours later. He looked better, having taken a shower and thrown on some clothes that did not have holes in them, but he still had the air of a vagrant to him. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he had not combed his hair, so it was still going out in every direction. His outfit, though neat and clean, did not seem to match up. He had on a sleeveless t-shirt with a wild design covering the whole thing; it had an image of sailors fighting off some kind of sea monster in very vibrant colors. He had on cargo pants that were blue fatigues and then to top it off, he was wearing black flip-flops.

“Kane, get of my shot!” Manny pled in an exasperated tone while sliding out of his chair to the cool, tiled floor. He knew that the auburn-haired teen would be a pest, but he did not think it would happen so soon. 

“Shot?” Kane muttered slowly as if he did not know what was going on and then he looked around, remembering that they were shooting a movie. “Oh, yeah,” he said in a dazed tone with a low chuckle.

“You fucking moron, move!” Isabel hollered, even though she did not have anything to do with the scene going on at the moment. Kane just rubbed her the wrong way earlier and she took pleasure in getting a chance to scream at him again.

“My fault,” Kane apologized with a sluggish, sheepish wave while walking out of the shot even slower than that. He seemed to move at the speed of molasses in everything that he did, even the way he talk kind of drawled out like he was stuck in a freeze frame if he had to say enough words.

Isabel growled, upset now with the fact that Kane was alive since he was acting like snails could move faster than he did. She stepped away from what she was doing, namely trying to correct the moves that she had wanted to use in an upcoming fight scene, to go yank Kane off of the set. He yelped when she grabbed him by the crew neck of his shirt and flung him into a nearby pillar. Kane smashed into the column, but grinned despite the pain in his back. Isabel wanted to let him have it again because of the stupid expression that he was wearing.

“Do you want me to kill you?” Isabel demanded to know. It seemed to be the only explanation for why the slow-moving young man was looking at her in the manner that he was, even though he knew what she could do to him by now. 

“Well, I’d go with a smile,” Kane replied, still smiling, even though it did hurt his bruised cheek. The area that she had abused earlier was already a deep, dark purple mark and throbbing at a steady rhythm, but he ignored it. Having had plenty of bruises in his life, he had learned to live with them long ago.

Isabel snarled, hating Kane more with every second that passed and every time that he moved. The crew had a feeling that shooting in and around Kane’s large manor was going to get more interesting with him around. They were absolutely correct, too. Things quickly reached a point where Isabel’s mood soured before she even saw Kane. It was just like she could sense him within a fifty foot radius and she would frown before he even got near her. Kane did not seem to notice; or he at least pretended not to notice.

Isabel was the only person in the crew that had grown to dislike Kane. When given a chance, everyone found that he had a boyish charm and was a wonderfully comforting presence because he was so easy-going. Many of the women especially found him to be cute and seemed to love when he came to flirt with them, which he did shamelessly with almost every female that happened to catch his eye. It was clear that he was not serious, but the ladies liked the attention nonetheless from the muscular, athletic young man, all except Isabel anyway.

Since Isabel seemed to have an early warning system when it came to Kane, by the time he came over to interact with her, she was pretty much steaming from her anger with his presence. So, he did not have much time to act or say something really perverse before she beating him over the head with the nearest object, finding her fists to just not be enough to knock some sense into him. Apparently, there was no getting through to him, though.

“Hey, Bella,” Kane happily cooed as he slid up behind Isabel. He could already practically see smoke coming out of her ears after having to deal with him for over a week. He loved that Manny was using most of his house and property for his film because it gave him a chance to be around Isabel. 

“I’ve told you not to call me that,” Isabel growled through clenched teeth while not bothering to turn around to face him. He already knew from the past that her face was getting flushed scarlet due to her irritation of him just there and breathing. He wondered what it was about his presence that just infuriated her so much, but he knew that he enjoyed it. She was so absolutely gorgeous when she was upset, after all.

“You’ve told me a lot of things,” he remarked with his usual grin. Everyone noticed that he grinned often and wide while around Isabel. When he was with other people, he smiled a bit, but the expression was never quite a grin. His violet eyes shined when he looked at her and sparkled when he grinned in her presence.

“Listen to me—” Isabel was interrupted by the little pest.

“Scream my name? I’d love to!” Kane practically howled and a delighted expression lit up his royal-colored eyes. It was inappropriate lines like that that got him clobbered by her. 

Isabel’s eye twitched in pure, burning irritation. She turned around swiftly, punching Kane right in the gut, her knuckles feeling some resistance while her mind was calmed momentary thanks to the blow. He coughed in agony and slid back while putting a hand to his injured stomach. He closed one eye from the agony and stared at her with a pained smile. It seemed like all he could do was smile at her, no matter what.

 _Oh man, she hits really hard_ , Kane muttered mentally. “You know, I’m starting to think that you’re really trying to hurt me, Bella,” he commented with a forced laugh.

“Will you just go the fuck away?” Isabel ordered him in a bellow, pointing off in the distance. Her face was bright ruby from the absolute rage that she felt toward him and if she could just devour him to be rid of him, she would have done it at that very moment. Actually, she would have done it days ago.

“I never walk away from a challenge or a beautiful woman,” Kane replied. “Both of which, you are,” he pointed out with a smile.

Isabel just curled her lip in disgust and went to sock him again. She swung on him, but he surprised her and caught her fist that time. She snarled like a troubled beast; he seemed to make it a habit to catch her attacks after an initial blow. The fact that he could catch her attacks only made her way to destroy him even more. _How the hell can someone so slow be so fucking fast?!_  

“You only get one, Bella,” Kane commented with a smile and wiggled his burgundy eyebrows at her.

“You’re infuriating!” Isabel screamed while violently snatching her fist back.

“I try my best,” he replied, still in good spirits despite the fact that he was pretty sure he would be pissing blood later on.

The raven-haired martial artist only screamed again, leaving the area to avoid having to be around that pest anymore. Kane laughed, even though it was hurting his stomach. Manny came over once the coast was clear to laugh at his friend, as he tended to do after Isabel let the short fellow have it.

“Why do you keep doing this to yourself?” Manny asked curiously. He had never witnessed a person take such abuse all for the sake of trying to pick up a woman, no matter how sexy that woman happened to be.

“I love her,” Kane answered with a laugh. 

“Why do you always love things that will probably kill you?” Manny inquired in a puzzled tone while shaking his head slightly, being careful not to knock off the plain light blue baseball cap that he was wearing. He did not take his friend’s declaration of love for Isabel as anything more than Kane’s love for mountain climbing or sky-diving, which was how Kane meant his statement anyway. 

“I don’t know. How can you not love something that’ll probably kill you?” Kane countered as if that made any sense. He honestly did not know what kept drawing him to Isabel aside from the fact that he had a taste for extreme, dangerous things and she was the very definition of extremely dangerous to him. She was like the opposite end of a magnet for him and he just kept getting pulled to her.

“Trust me, man, stay away from her. Her stress levels are only climbing with every scene that she’s got to change now that she’s figured out I lied to her about how good these morons martial arts skills are,” Manny remarked. He had to tell one whopper of a lie to get Isabel to sign on for the project and he doubted that he would ever hear the end of it from her when the movie was finally done. Hell, she might never work with him again when the movie was finally done, especially if she associated him with Kane in her mind since Kane was his friend.

“Why do you always lie to your friends?” Kane asked more as a joke than anything else, even though it was a trend for Manny to lie his ass off when he wanted something from his friends. 

“How else am I supposed to get you jerks to help me out? I know cool people who don’t give a damn about helping me!” Manny chuckled.

“Maybe because you’re always lying to us!” the shorter male countered. “Hell, you lie to me all the damn time and I do nothing but help your ass out if I have a chance and you ask. … And if I remember and I’m not lost in the wilderness or something.” He was known for forgetting things and getting lost somewhere in the mountains much of the time.

“Shut up. Go take care of your stomach. I know it’s killing you.”

Kane only laughed, but that was the truth. He walked off to go take care of his abdomen while thinking of Isabel. He was genuinely attracted to her, even though it was easy to see that she disliked him. He figured that he should be able to wear her down somewhat, believing that he was already in her system, which was why she had such strong feelings toward him. Sure, they were negative feelings, but he had to start somewhere. Maybe her appeal came from the fact that she took his charm and threw it back in his face rather than eating it up like everyone else did. Maybe he wanted her because he could not have her…or maybe Cupid had gotten him. He did not know and did not care. He just wanted that very fascinating and dangerous woman.

Isabel, for her part, found herself hating Kane with a passion. And every time she thought that she could not possibly hate him more, he did something to prove her wrong. She doubted that she had ever detested someone as much as Kane, especially in such a short amount of time. She could not wait to get away from that annoying little pest. She especially disliked the way that he had a tendency of catching her punches. That irked her to no end.

 _How can someone that moves at the pace of a glacier react fast enough to catch my attacks?_ Isabel could not figure it out. Kane dragged around going slower than evolution for the most part, but she could almost never hit him a second time after catching him with the first blow. It was becoming beyond embarrassing. After all, she was master martial artist and he was…well, Kane.

Kane, to Isabel’s observation, was a lazy oaf and that was being kind about things. He flirted with everything that had breasts and always managed to screw up a shot, usually by walking through it. Manny joked that he should hire Kane in as an extra and just have him as a running gag through out the movie. Whenever Kane ended up in a shot, it took over a minute to get him to realize his mistake and then it took him way too long to finally get out of the way. He always apologized, but that did not excuse the fact that he was a moron. _So, how can such an obvious idiot catch my attacks?_

Isabel tried to wipe Kane from her thoughts and get back to what was really important, namely mapping out the next fight scene. She was thankful that she had the peace to get everything together and she rather proud of what she had worked out. When it came time to shoot the scene, she had a wonderful feeling that it was going to be perfect. She smiled to herself as the actors got into position and then suddenly her smile vanished, but no one noticed.

“No, no, no,” Isabel muttered in a panic while her wide eyes frantically scanned around as if she expected a bomb to drop.

“What’s wrong?” Manny asked when he noticed the overwrought expression on his fight choreographer’s face.

“He’s coming. Don’t let him walk in the shot,” Isabel ordered harshly. Her face tensed and a snarl tugged at her full top lip.

“He? Who?” the director inquired. His face scrunched up and he scratched the top of his head as he regarded Isabel as if she was out of her mind. He did not recall Isabel suffering from insanity, but he honestly would not be surprised to find it ran in her family.

“Who else? Kane,” Isabel growled in anger while making a fist, apparently ready to beat the tiny snot up before he had even done anything.

“Kane?” Manny looked around and then shook his head. “I don’t see the little guy. I think he went out with a couple of assistances for some beer or something.” 

“No, no, no. He’s coming and I know that dumb bastard is going to walk in the fucking shot and I’m going to have to beat the living shit out of the little bitch,” Isabel stated soundly. There did not seem to be any talking her out of that one, but luckily for Kane, he was nowhere around.

Manny thought that Isabel was just being paranoid because they were about to shot one of the big fight scenes of the movie. Kane was nowhere around as far as he knew. The shot was safe…for ten seconds. It would seem that Isabel’s prophecy of sheer doom was right on the money because Kane came in alone right into the shot, right into the middle of the fight. 

Kane seemed totally surprised when he was almost kicked in the mouth. He reacted in a split second and avoided the hit, but found himself dodging other attacks. He had no idea what was going on, but he was doing his best not to get his jaw broken.

“KANE!” Isabel hollered in a tone that would have made the devil himself run for cover. 

The crew would have all signed sworn affidavits that pure, blue flames rose off of Isabel as marched toward Kane. They all prayed for his soul and then took bets on how she was going to kill him, snapping his neck being the one favored by them. She certainly was wearing a “twist his head off his shoulders” expression. 

Kane gulped when he noticed Isabel coming toward him, looking not-at-all happy and not in the way he was used to seeing, while the actors finally stopped attacking him. He appeared worried for the first time to all of his guests. He threw a big apologetic grin on his face, seeming to finally realize what he had done that was so wrong. He now knew that he was standing in the middle of her shot.

“Bella …” Kane started to say with a nervous laugh, but he did not make it passed the little nickname that he enjoyed using for her. That one word did not help his current situation, which the crew believed could best be described as “totally fucked.”

“I told you, stop calling me that!” Isabel bellowed, her wrath coming out full force in her voice, as she glared at him with pure hatred. She came in for the attack that was supposed to be his death.

Kane yelped like a frightened puppy as he barely avoided a thundering straight right hand from Isabel. He was certain that he felt the pressure weigh from the force behind the blow. She kept coming and he just kept dodging, which only served to infuriate her further. Kane was starting to get the idea that he did not want one of her hits to actually connect with him fully, so along with dodging, he started blocking. His forearms were stinging quickly from that course of action, but he preferred that to his chest and abdomen being punched in and having his bones collapse into his torso.

Isabel only seemed to get madder with every block and dodge from the short male. Her pale face flushed a bright red and she scowled so deeply that it looked like the frown lines would cut her face open. She changed from throwing punches to some very powerful kicks. Kane made a panicked face as he ducked, narrowly missing having his neck broken with a kick. He flipped out of the way, but she kept coming at him, each kick more deadly than the last. He caught her leg, hoping that they could talk things out before she slaughtered him. 

“Bella, I didn’t mean it!” Kane apologized quite sincerely and his voice was laced with desperation for her to accept his words. His eyes pled with her to just believe him. He was tempted to throw his hands up in surrender, but he was certain that she would break his whole body as soon as he let her go.

“Stop fucking calling me that! And, goddamn it, stand the fuck still!” Isabel commanded while taking her leg back to continue her attack.

Kane looked ready to cry, which further shocked the audience that the pair had considering the fact that Kane had been nothing but jubilant since he showed up, even when Isabel was out to harm him. He blocked Isabel a few more times, but then she came in with her best kick. Kane was not sure what hit him, but he refused to believe that it was a human leg. The sound of her foot crashing against his skull was quite the disgusting crunch and everyone was certain that she had cracked his head open like an eggshell with that move. His head snapped to the side and he collapsed to the ground, blood oozing from his mouth and nose, dripping on the cold marble. 

He fell to his side, but caught himself on his knees and with one weak hand that shook as it tried to support him. His eyes were wide as if he were in total shock and for the first time did not look at Isabel with his usual cheery playfulness in his regal eyes. He actually looked hurt, beyond the physical pain that he was in and he was in quite a bit of that. It was as if he actually viewed himself as a victim and she was the criminal who had wounded him on every level possible.

Isabel huffed, surprising everyone that coal black smoke did not come out of her nose. She felt odd about her seeming victory. She was not satisfied or sated with Kane being on his knees, hurt, and bleeding and it was not because she wanted to pummel him again. She was bothered by his expression and the fact that he was staring at her, not with bright, delighted eyes, but with agony, hurt, and despair.

Her throat tightened and went dry. Her hands uncoiled themselves without any commands from her brain. Her nerves relaxed in someway, not looking to harm Kane any further, but the nerves also tensed from her current circumstances. She turned away from him, not wanting to see his shocked and wounded eyes anymore.

“You’re such an ass,” Isabel muttered with a crack in her voice before walking away, hoping that the forming guilt would vanish when she could no longer see him.

Kane did not utter a retort and remained stunned on the ground. The physical anguish and mental shock kept him pinned to the ground, but even if those were not there, he still would not have been able to get up from the space that he was kneeling on. His emotions, tattered and shattered, cemented him to his place on the vast, lush lawn, which was where the filming had been taking place.

Manny went over to Kane and helped him up. Momentarily, Manny considered hitting Kane with an “I toldja so,” but he could see that it was not the time for that. It was very rare for him to see Kane genuinely hurt, especially emotionally. Usually, the shorter fellow could laugh anything off and smile through the most severe abuse because it never fazed him.

Apparently, Kane actually felt something toward Isabel and was not just playing around with her for the simple fact that he was a pest of sorts or because she was just damn sexy. _Has Cupid managed to shoot the wild man that was Kane?_ Manny was starting to believe that an arrow was probably in the dead-center of his friend’s heart … or maybe right between the eyes, which would explain why his brain no longer worked.

“You okay?” Manny asked Kane with some concern in his voice. 

“She hates me, doesn’t she?” Kane muttered and his voice cracked as his eyes watered. He was disappointed and appalled with what he knew to be a fact. He did not even have to ask the question, but maybe he was looking for some hope that things were different from what he knew.

Manny wanted to let out a loud “duh!” but it was not the time for that. He helped Kane into the house, which the smaller male did need assistance in doing. Everyone else put the set back into place to do another take of the fight scene, pretending not to notice the brooding fight choreographer. 

Isabel watched Kane go off; he was limping slightly. Blocking her lower kicks with his shins had already caught up with him. She felt a clenching around her heart; _damn guilt_ , she thought with a huff. _Wait, is it really guilt?_

 _It has to be guilt_ , Isabel told herself almost immediately. Her heart felt like it was being wrapped in razor sharp barbed wire that was being gradually tightened. There was a burning in her throat that most people would have thought was nervousness, but she marked it off as symptom of guilt as she thought that was the illness that she was currently suffering from. A grinding, boiling sensation in her stomach followed and it felt like her insides planned to devour each other.

 _Why do I feel guilty about throttling Kane?_ The fool deserved it. He had ruined one of the biggest scenes in the movie that she had invested a lot of time, effort, and thought in. She was trying to prove herself and he continuously messed everything up _._

 _He’s such a fucking jerk. And why the fuck did he have to look at me like that!_ It was not like she had enjoyed giving him what he seemed to be begging for. It was just to teach him a lesson. _So, he didn’t have any right to look at me like I did something wrong! He was the one that was wrong_ , she mentally insisted. She had only given him what he deserved. _Right, so there’s no reason for me to feel guilty_ , she insisted. It did not stop her from being that way.

Isabel only began to feel worse when Kane resumed his pesky antics the next day while sporting a lot bruises, especially dark ones on his face. As he limped around, his smile seemed to be the same to everyone, except for Isabel. He was finally leaving her alone, which she swore she wanted, but it was suddenly bothering her. He no longer flirted with her, got in her way, or even grinned that stupid, almost lazy grin at her. He kept his distance and that aggravated her, which she did not want to acknowledge because she thought that was just plain crazy. _Why the hell am I bothered by him getting away from me when that’s what the hell I wanted in the first place?_

Watching Kane from a distance, Isabel started to be consumed by the thought that the little guy was not so awful. He was pleasant to everyone, even though he flirted with all of the ladies. But, there did not seem anything real between him and any of them. He threw his money around like water, offering to take everyone out on the town every night, which most people took him up on. He never complained about anything, even if he knew that some people were hanging around him just because he paid for everything. He continued to make his usual mistakes, walking through the shots and things like that, but they did not seem so major anymore. And Isabel amazingly just felt worse about herself as she watched him.

She realized that Kane probably thought that she was a jackass. It would explain why he was now avoiding her. He probably hated her now and that idea did not sit well with her any more than her guilt did. She felt such turmoil inside of her, like her insides were forever falling into a bottomless pit while churning against each other. _How the hell can such a pest of a man cause such a reaction inside of me? Maybe it’s because he’s not really be a pest_ , she dared to consider. 

-8-8-8-8- 

Isabel felt unsure of herself, which was not a common occurrence. In fact, it typically only happened when she was in the presence of her mother. But, her mother was thousands of miles away and there was a large ocean between them, thankfully. Kane was the cause of her current anxiety and it seemed like there was just as much distance between the two of them as there was between her and her mother. Yet, there was only a door between them; a rather elaborate, elegantly designed pair of doors, but only a door nonetheless.

The crew was gone, moving on to a new location. She had stayed behind, making up the excuse that she wanted to explore Italy for a few days. She assured them that she would meet them back in the States before they needed her again. No one argued with her, knowing Isabel to be a woman of her word and very professional when it came to her business. Besides, there was no way that she would screw up her first time doing her job on her own. She just did not want to leave on a sour note, which was why she was standing outside of the door of the room that Kane was currently in.

Isabel took a deep breath before she knocked on the door. Kane answered in his lighthearted voice, granting whoever was at the door permission to enter. Isabel wordlessly went into the room, finding out that it was little gym. Kane was on the far side of the room, kicking a heavy bag. _He has good form_ , she noted. Apparently, he was not a total idiot, although she would have guessed that he had some intelligence in hand-to-hand combat if she had been looking to give him any type of credit in regards to anything at all.

“Oh, hey … Isabel,” Kane said when he noticed who came in. Saying her full name seemed to come as an afterthought and it did not roll well off of his tongue. It was almost as if he was speaking another language that he did not know well when saying her name.

“I’m sorry if I’m interrupting,” Isabel replied as he halted his exercise to pay her some mind, although she did not seem to have his full attention. His purple eyes wandered about the room, the ceiling, and floor before eventually resting on her briefly.

“Oh, no. I just thought everyone was gone and I needed something to do. Not much fun in this place when I’m the only one around,” Kane explained with a half-smile and a shrug. 

Isabel nodded; it was something that she could guess at, but not understand. She imagined that being alone in such a vast mansion was a lonely existence. It had not occurred to her that he lived there on his own until now. There were no servants around and Kane did not seem to have any family. She had learned through Manny that Kane’s parents had died less than a year ago in a car accident and his extended family just left him to his own devices because he seemed to like it that way and he was a bit of a black sheep. He was actually known as “the wild count” by his friends and family. He seemed to like being on his own, but now that she thought about it, he had to get lonely sometimes if it was just him around.

“So, what can I do for you … Isabel?” Kane asked, once again forcing her full name out of his mouth. 

Isabel shifted uncomfortably on the balls of her feet, her black sandals making a slight clicking noise because of the movement. His tone was making her feel uneasy and she felt like she had made a mistake coming to set things straight with him. As soon as that thought entered her mind, she gathered her resolve. She could not leave there, allowing him to believe that she was the devil incarnate. After all, she was actually pretty friendly if given the chance.

“I just came in because I wanted to say sorry,” Isabel informed him, forcing out the apology as if it was offensive. Despite the fact that she could admit fault if it was necessary, she was not in the habit of apologizing and disliked it a great deal. Her tongue had to force the words passed her teeth, which also tried to offer up some resistance to keep her from speaking that dreaded, awful word. 

“Sorry? For what?” Kane asked curiously with round, violet eyes, as if he honestly did not know what she might be apologizing for. Manny had him convinced that everything that happened was his fault for bothering Isabel after being told several times that she was under a lot stress and serious pressure. He agreed with that assessment. He was pressing her at a terrible time, a bad time that he was vaguely aware of and did not seem to respect, so she had been in the right to flatten him after a while.

“The way I’ve been treating you. I mean, you’re annoying as hell. Don’t get me wrong. You are fucking annoying. But, I’ve been really mean to you and you deserve most of it,” Isabel said and she would have continued, but Kane cut in.

“Um … so, why are you sorry again?” the auburn-haired male inquired while scratching the top of his head. “After all, it sounds like according to you, it’s all my fault, just like Manny said.”

“Sorry, this apology isn’t going the way I want it to either. I don’t think you’re a total jerk, though and I don’t want you to think I am,” Isabel explained, going simple to avoid getting into the fact that she did think that he was irksome and wanted him to very aware of that fact.

Kane shrugged nonchalantly. “I don’t think you’re a jerk at all,” he tried to assure her.

“Okay, that’s good. I don’t want you to hate me or anything,” she said with a small smile and a light in her emerald eyes that showed relief. “I mean, I’m not a horrible person or anything and I don’t want anyone to think that … unless, of course, I hate them or something. But, the point is, I don’t want you to hate me.” 

“Hate you?” Kane echoed, twisting up his mouth and regarding her as if she were insane. _Hate her? Yeah, right_. It was not possible. Someone that as interesting and lovely as she was could only be a matter of intrigue for him, and that was at the least. He did not even conceive what the most was that could have laid between them.

“You do hate me?” Isabel asked because she could not place his tone.

Kane did not respond. He marched over to Isabel and looked up at her; it was a bit embarrassing to him that she, the object of his interest, was so much taller than he was. It was bad enough that he thought she detested him, but to not measure up to her physically was not helping him as far as he was concerned. After she had dropped him that last time, he started considering that she did not respond to him as he would like because he was short, which he thought might be seen as a sign of being unmanly. Someone like her probably went for the tall, dark, and handsome type; _well, two out of three can’t be so bad_ , or so he hoped.

“You’re kidding, right? Hate you? Yeah right,” Kane replied with a smile and a scoff to brush that idea off. 

Isabel almost sighed in relief, but she caught herself. With him standing so close now, she could smell the effort of his workout. It was subtle, but attention grabbing, in a good way; _suits him perfectly actually_. She eyed him studiously, finally taking in his complete form. Yes, he was short, but he was built wide at the shoulders. He was wearing a sleeveless tee-shirt, so she could not see his torso, but his arms were plainly on display and they were thick and cut with muscle. She suspected that his chest and abdomen was the same. As she recalled punching him in the stomach, she could remember her fist colliding with tight muscles. _He’s probably ripped under that shirt_ , she thought; she tried to ignore the excitement that rushed through her with that notion. It did not work.

Isabel flushed at the thought of Kane without his shirt and then she shook that away before the blush was very noticeable on her pale skin. To get that off of her mind, she did something awkward. She placed her hand on the top of his head and petted him, almost like a pet or a small child.

Kane felt the hand on his head and his jaw tensed. He caught himself before he frowned because he did not want to totally wreck the moment, even though she was doing a good job of without his help. He already thought that she looked at him as less of a man for his height and now she was petting him. He took a breath to remain calm and tried his best to smile at her, but found the expression less than forthcoming.

“Glad we cleared that up then,” Isabel stated with a bright smile as she continued to caress his head. 

 _She has such a pretty smile. Now, if only she’d stop fucking petting me like I was a goddamn toy poodle_.“Now, we’ve got one other matter to clear up,” Kane commented.

“What other matter?” she asked curiously, raising an elegant eyebrow.

Kane’s mouth was on hers before she realized what was going on. Her first instinct was to push him away, but before she could act on that, she noticed that his lips were sweet and gentle against her own. It was not a harsh embrace in any way, but delightful, almost loving. So, instead of forcing him away from her, she returned the kiss, pressing his head to her since her hand was already resting on his head. The sensation caused a moan between them, but it was too low for them to know who the culprit was. They ended up pulling away for air after a minute.

“God, you are so damn hot,” Kane said in a heated whisper. 

“This is what you want from me?” Isabel inquired, her voice low and breathy. She did not sound insulted, only curious. She supposed that it made some sense; maybe he had been being a pest because he thought that she would find it cute. Somewhere underneath all of her annoyance, deep underneath it, a part of her did think that he was just plain adorable.

“If you don’t want it, you’re free to leave right now and never see me again, Bella,” he pointed out. He would not attempt to force her into anything or even lead her on. If she did not want him, then he would accept it. _Of course, I won’t like it_.

Isabel pondered the matter for a couple of seconds, mentally and sensuously. Her mind and body were not adverse to the idea of being with Kane. He was a fascinating little fellow with tantalizing body and interesting personality, even if he was a pest. He was not a bad guy from what she could tell. Plus, his kiss was just about the most pleasant thing that she could think of at the moment. It sent shivers through her that she never considered possible and she honestly wanted more.

The raven-haired beauty leaned down and planted a blazing kiss on Kane’s soft lips. It was his turn to be shocked; part of him actually thought that she would walk away from him. That fear-induced thought was banished from his skull when her mouth was on his, kissing him fiercely, almost possessively. She cupped his oval-shaped face with her hands and gently rubbed his jaw as their mouths continued to move against each other in a passionate way like heated whirlpools mixing, sending warmth through out both of their bodies. They craved more and the touch became hotter, threatening to overwhelm them.

Kane began gently lapping at Isabel delicious, full lips like a cat taking in milk. She gave him what he desired, opening her mouth for him to enter. His tongue attacked hers with a vigor that she did not expect. The contact was intense, making it seem like lightning had shot through them. The energy that she felt thanks to him made her want to touch his skin, caress his body, and merge with him.

She moved her hands from his face and strokedhis torso with some pressure. Mentally, she frowned because his shirt was in the way of the terrain that she wished to explore. She decided to move the cotton barrier without his permission, having to break the contact from their kiss to do so. He whined as her lips abandoned his until he realized what she was doing. As soon as the shirt was gone, her greedy hands were on his firm chest, her fingers loving the smooth, olive skin while her lips began pressing hot kisses to his jaw.

“Bella …” Kane muttered, panting slightly because of her attention. It felt like he was being massaged by cool river water on a hot day, even though the rubbing was serving to ignite his desire further. He was not too sure what he really wanted to say thanks to those distracting fingers of her. It would seem that her hands could do much more than bruise his form.

“What?” Isabel asked with a slight growl, almost as if she was annoyed. He was taking her from some rather interesting work in her opinion. He felt perfect; it was the only way that she could think to describe it. Touching him felt like she was touching a solid cloud, soft, but stable and strong.

“Should we go to my room or were you just expressing hatred for my shirt?” Kane inquired, hoping that she wanted the latter, even though he knew how she felt about his clothing.

“Room,” she answered without thinking. It was what she wanted and she did not need to think on it. She was glad that he brought it up or she might have just jumped him in his home gym.

Kane grabbed Isabel by the hand, not having to be told twice. He pulled her out of the gym and they had to go down a long hall that was covered in several paintings; they had been his mother’s decorating scheme, like the ivory and golden walls mimicking the palaces of ancient Rome, but he certainly liked all of it. They even passed a couple of marble statues. Entering his room was like entering a different world from the rest of the house.

Kane’s bedroom was expectedly dirty, clothing thrown about the place, magazines littering the floor, and sporting equipment everywhere. Isabel did not care about the state of the room, not even taking in the setup. She just needed to know where the bed was and it was at the back of the room. She pushed him onto the messy king-sized bed, shifting the black, crumbled comforter more than before. Before he could even figure out what just happened, she descended upon him, burying him in a burning, hot, romantic kiss. Her hands returned to a place that they decided was great to be, Kane’s ripped chest.

Kane surprisingly met her energy with … some of his own; it was more energy than she was used to him putting into something. He moved his hands to her shirt, taking apart the buttons, but he was going too slowly for her tastes. She pulled away from him and made short work of her own white blouse, flinging it somewhere behind her to become friendly with his dirty clothes. She also took off her lacy white bra because she did not want to wait for him to do it; it might have taken all night if left to him after all. She definitely would not be able to last that long.

Purple eyes opened wide with appreciation when they beheld the pale bounty that was Isabel’s torso; his mouth followed suit. She smiled softly to herself, enjoying his reaction to her, although it was not an atypical response to her. It just meant a lot coming from him for some reason that she did not know and really had no intention of thinking on right now. 

“If you like what you see, feel free to touch,” Isabel whispered to Kane in a seductive tone before placing a small peck to his still-gaping mouth. 

Once again, the auburn-haired male did not need to be told twice. He filled his hands with her, just holding her for a few seconds with an awed expression. His hands began to caressing her and it felt so good, inflaming her passion-fueled body, but he was agonizingly slow. _God, was he a tortoise in a past life?_ He was overwhelming her with desire and ache from his pace.

“Kane,” she said in a growl with burning emerald eyes. 

“Yeah?” he asked in a distant tone, watching his hands move across her body. He was very intent on his current task and focused on her body as if she were some puzzle that he would solve come Hell or high water.

“I’m on fucking fire and you’re only making it worse instead of putting it out. Stop being a bastard. More,” she demanded with another growl.

“More? You want more from me?” he inquired with a wrinkled brow as if he were surprised, but she knew that he was teasing her. He chuckled and moved his thumbs to a pair of pink pearls crying out for his attention.

She hissed and arched into his touch. “Don’t fucking joke around,” she ordered with a snarl, getting more frustrated thanks to him and his smooth, heavenly touch. 

Kane did not take offense to her commanding him and he tried to give her more. She noticed the effort, but he still was not going fast enough for her. He was adding the perfect amount of pressure and touching all of the right places, but dear god, he needed to go faster. She wondered if he was doing it on purpose, getting revenge for all of the things that she had done to him.

“Kane, you bastard,” she hissed and she did not get a chance to scold him further because he was suddenly attached to her, hands and mouth. “You wonderful bastard,” she corrected herself in a long breath.

Isabel actually whimpered like an enchanted puppy as Kane worked her out like he was doing his heavy bag before she showed up, but in a much better way of course. She had never experienced anything like Kane was doing, like he was turning her inside out and playing wonderfully romantic music with her body, making her feel like magic was coursing through her veins. Now, if only he could just pick up the pace to bring the music to the high point, she would never say another bad word against him … that night anyway. Kane continued to pluck her strings, gently and professionally, but never reached the speed that she wanted. She was too busy panting and whimpering to scold him for acting as if thick molasses flowed through his veins. She did cry out for more, but he never delivered. She suspected it was because it just was not in his nature to go beyond the pace that he was currently moving. 

“Kane …” she actually whined. _What the fuck? I did not just do that!_

Kane was totally wrapped up in what he was doing, focusing solely on touching Isabel as if it would bring him the answers to the meaning of life. Her pleas never even reached his ears, let alone his brain. He was hell bent on memorizing the perfect, soft, creamy flesh exposed to him with his mouth and hands, especially since he had been granted exploration rights. He was especially drawn to the pebbled peaks of her supple breasts and his tongue and fingers played with each with extreme fascination. He wanted to take her all in.

Being so close to her, he noticed that she smelled like spicy strawberries; the spice undoubtedly came from his actions. As he tasted her, he was certain that he now knew what ambrosia was like or maybe even that he had gone beyond the food of the gods. In fact, as his tongue wrapped around a small, delicate light pink gem, he decided that the king of the gods himself would be jealous of the feast that Kane had before him.

Isabel moaned and the sound was divine to Kane. He wanted more of the noise, more of her flesh, more of everything. He feared that he might never be able to let her go, but could not bring himself to stop. He had to have all of her and he had to savor her for as long as possible. 

In her frustration, Isabel took control before Kane could wind her any tighter and then just leave her more taught than finely played as he continued to strum her body like some masterful instrument. The auburn-haired young man merely smiled with a glazed look in his eyes, appearing like he was intoxicated, as Isabel forced him back further onto the bed and then ripped his pants away as if they had been warm-up breakaways that athletes wore. In any other situation, he might have wondered if he would ever be able to wear them again. Under current conditions though, he was glad to be rid of those damned pants. And much to his delight, she got rid of her own damned peddle-pusher pants, too, and her panties with them. 

Kane’s mouth practically hit the floor, having to go through the bed in the process, as she made herself bare before him. Isabel smirked like a predator when she saw his expression, although on the inside she was pretty much mirroring his reaction. She was a bit thankful that she could hide her emotions well because she did not want Kane to get full of himself for the simple fact that she was impressed with all that was him. It just would not sit well with her if he were aware that she thought that he was picture perfect. She guessed that he had been made short just to give him a physical human flaw.

“Bella … you are a goddess,” Kane stated, sounding in awe of her, as if he actually wanted to worship her.

Isabel found herself doing something quite unlike herself, she blushed at his words. She did not know why or how Kane had gotten such a reaction out of her, but she did not mind it for the moment. She decided to just accept the compliment, flattered that he would openly say such a thing as if it was the stone-cold truth.

“You read that off a matchbook or something?” Isabel teased him when she recalled how to make words. 

“Aw, you actually think I can read. Your opinion of me must be on the rise,” he shot right back with a small smile.

“Shut up,” she playfully ordered him and then leaned down to enthusiastically kiss him before he could say anything else.

Kane’s reaction to the kiss was instant, returning it with fervor as if that was an instinct. The raven-haired female plundered his mouth with her tongue like an enthused bandit trying to steal all his riches. Kane, on the other hand, moved around her mouth like a beach bum looking for a place to take a nap. The two styles did not clash surprisingly enough.

Kane took the hint that he was deeply desired by her while Isabel understood that underneath Kane’s sloth-like, annoying nature, there was a man that wanted to be sweet and tender with her. She mentally conceded that he could be just that with her, but she was taking the reins for what was happening that night. Kane did not object, giving into her as he often did when she went to strike him a first time. He just surrendered his will to his goddess.

“Holy shit!” Kane uncharacteristically cursed rather loudly as he was suddenly and seemingly unsuspectingly sheathed in her magnificent warmth. He had achieved Elysium without even knowing it; hell, he certainly had not expected it. 

Isabel chuckled a bit, having to force the amused sound out considering the fact that she was really right with Kane on the feeling of their union. Her body was practically singing with joy from connecting with him. She shook slightly as every nerve ending in her body hummed with pleasure.

He figured there should be a “welcome to paradise” sign somewhere to have at least warned him that things would feel so incredible. Isabel thought that such a thing would have been a good idea, although the slight tremble in her leg just from mounting him was somewhat of a warning for her. Kane was glad that she did not start moving immediately lest he have a major cardio-episode from the shock and overload of pleasure; a heart-attack certainly would have ruined the night, after all. He had to adjust almost as much as she did to their newly discovered state of heavenly bliss. Unfortunately for him, she was quicker to get herself together and she began to rock her hips before his mind was ready for the ecstasy shooting through him like a high-speed rifle bullet.

“No, no, no!” Kane begged, putting his hand on her strong thighs with the hope that he would get her to cease her divine actions. His voice got stuck in his throat and he clutched her legs as his brain was overloaded with pleasure. 

“Too slow, Kane,” Isabel teased him, as if she knew exactly why he was pleading with her to stop.

Isabel persisted, moaning loudly as she did so, if only to get on his nerves while making her own nerves dance in elation. She did hope that the decision to taunt him did not come back to haunt her with him finishing before she had a chance to do so. It did not matter anyway since she could not stop now that she started.

“Oh,” she groaned deeply and he squeezed her harder as the sounds escaped her throat.

“God, Bella,” he growled. “I need … I need a second … I need … to gather … myself …”

Kane’s begging fell upon deaf ears. He gave up after a few seconds and was lost forever in a delighted confusion, never able to catch up to her. He threw his head back, tried to keep his eyes open to watch her undulate on top of him. He could not even work up the energy to move his hands to her tantalizingly bouncing breasts.

For some reason, the fact that he just surrendered to her and also never seemed to reach her pleased Isabel. Mentally, she had to smile while verbally all she could do was moan and grunt, which seemed to be all he could do also. She pushed harder against him, possessing him, and took one of his hands from her leg and moved it to her torso. She used his hand to caress herself. 

Isabel’s movements stated soundly that she was the one in charge and Kane could not challenge that; he actually would not have challenged it if he could. He was not looking to compete with her, which was something new to her since the few lovers that she had in life were intimidated by her and tried to keep up or dominate her to prove their worth. Kane seemed to think that he did not have anything to prove. There was some odd form of confidence in his lack of trying, which she noticed and would never figure out why, but she found it sexy. He just lay there for her, presenting himself to her like a sacrifice, which ignited the fire in her veins to the point of boiling. She growled as she increased her rhythm and he groaned.

“God, Bella …” he voice got caught in his throat as sheen layer of sweat built up all over his body. She leaned down to claim his mouth and to keep him from saying that ridiculous pet name again.

The most that Kane did throughout their intense activity was reach up to caress Isabel whenever she stopped guiding his hands. She was quite all right with him doing that, even though he was still going at his same slow pace. She whimpered and whined as he kneaded and stroked all sorts of flesh bits on her body. A sweat built on her powerful form while she made sure to keep going, crashing her hips against his in a steady, mind-numbing rate while he kept on caressing her, revering her with his large, strong hands. 

Kane could barely think as time pressed on, along with Isabel, and his body began to sweat even more from the heat blazing in and around him. He realized before anything was even over that he had been caught in a trap. He was snared and never getting away. She had him, had his soul within her; he was hers. She was now his goddess and he, a lowly, devote worshipper of the divine.

The auburn-haired teen was distracted from his own plight as he noticed Isabel shuddering above him, clenching around him, threatening to tear him from heaven before he desired to leave. She placed her palms on his chest, pressing in his ribs, to keep herself balanced. He did not mind, even though it caused him a little breathing trouble. It certainly kept him from moaning loudly and possibly following her over the edge. Seconds later, when she had finally managed to stop seeing nothing but white and feeling liquid bliss course through her body like a raging river, she realized that he was still there for her. She looked at him with tired, but amazed eyes.

Kane seemed to read her thoughts through her emeralds eyes and he just shrugged his shoulders, not sure if he needed to say anything since he doubted that she upset with him for being able to hold off. She frowned, as if she was vexed with him, but then smiled wickedly at him as she picked up her pace. _Damn it to fucking hell_ , he hollered in his mind; she was a demon as much as she was a goddess. Kane gritted his teeth and an almost animalistic growl escaped his throat as he tried to hold on to what little sanity he had left since she was introduced to him. No such luck, though.

Isabel arched her body, came in at a different angle, and yelped in pleasure as she hit a new spot. Kane was so surprised by the noise that escaped her mouth that all thoughts flew out of his head while his essence escaped him in a heated rush. Isabel, feeling the full affect of her actions also, shuddered while throwing her head back before collapsing onto Kane in exhaustion. His stocky frame had no problem supporting her and he smiled. _I wish she would never let go._ He politely covered her with a sheet that was near his hands. 

“Don’t take this as meaning I don’t think you’re annoying or anything,” she remarked with a smile that he could not see because she had her head buried in his comfortable, firm chest.

“Don’t worry since I don’t recall accepting your apology, anyway,” he retorted while bringing a hand up to stroke her hair.

Isabel did not respond to that, having fallen sleep right after hearing that last sentence. He was just so comfortable, his heartbeat in her ear was soothing, and the way that he was caressing her head had not helped in keeping her awake. Kane stayed awake a little while longer, enjoying having her body pressed closely against his own. Part of him knew that what happened was a fluke of nature, once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing, but another part of him dared to hope that something more would come of things. After all, the woman on top of him owned him now and he was willing to bet that she was will aware of it. He would have been surprised to find out that she assumed that she was little more than a bit of entertainment for Kane and she could not fault him for that because she would later tell herself that he had been the same for her.

-8-8-8-8- 

Next time: back to our regularly scheduled program. The trio come back from vacation and tries to get their lives together.


	11. Keystone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. Well, aside from Kane and Isabel anyway. I also don’t own fig newtons. 
> 
> Shout out to Mouserr2255 (aka mouse) for his ideas that appear in this chapter.
> 
> Sorry with how boring this chapter turned out.

11: Keystone

“I can’t believe we’ve been here for almost two months,” Kim said, speaking to her girlfriends. She busied herself packing her suitcases. She definitely had more stuff now than when they first arrived at Shego’s family beach house. 

The trio was still at the beach house, but they were getting ready to depart. They were each packing their bags, putting away items that were in the bedroom. They had more stuff leaving than they did going home, but Shego and Bonnie arranged to have most of their things shipped after them. Kim had bought a bunch of “junk,” as her girlfriends labeled it, and planned to carry the baubles back with her because they were souvenirs for her family.

“A great two months,” Bonnie remarked with a pleased smile. She practically glowed and it had nothing to do with the richness of her tan. Her eyes had a sparkle to them and her lovers believed she was ready to take on the world if necessary.

“We can come back,” Shego promised them, zipping up her bags. She certainly looked forward to bringing them back to the house and to other places around the world. There was so much she wanted to experience with them now.

Kim and Bonnie both smiled at that thought. Shego noticed them both getting lost in memories of the vacation, so she decided to capitalize on their distraction, especially since they were close to her. She grabbed both of her lovers and had them pinned on the bed within the blink of an eye. The younger pair both yelped from the surprise.

“Let’s get one more romp in before we go,” Shego suggested with a sexy half-smirk.

“But, the plane leaves soon and I still have so much to pack,” Kim objected while squirming to halfheartedly try to get out of the pale woman’s grip.

Shego pretended to look sullen by that protest and then she turned to Bonnie. “Duchess, what are we to do? Kimmie doesn’t wanna play with us anymore,” she pouted.

“Maybe she just doesn’t want to play with you,” Bonnie teased and then reached a hand over to caress Kim’s tanned cheek. “But, my baby always plays with me,” she purred and gave Kim a peck on the lips.

“You’re both awful. I’m taking back my titles,” Shego playfully huffed, turning her mouth up in indignation.

“You can’t take back our titles, especially since we so often make you queen-for-the-day,” the brunette argued.

“Then play with me,” Shego requested with a purr, her hands wandering their bodies to hopefully coax them into doing something with her.

“But, my stuff,” Kim pointed out, wiggling a little more. “We’ll miss the plane if we keep this up and we really need to get back.”

“Fine, fine, fine. But, when we get back, you two are mine,” Shego declared quite seriously.

Bonnie and Kim did not object to that one, which Shego liked. She owed them, anyway. They had taken special care of her through much of the vacation. Sure, she had done her fair share of spoiling, but she wanted to give them special attention as well.

The younger pair went back to packing while Shego sat on the bed for a moment. She stared them and smiled. She was not sure what she had done right in her life, but she felt blessed to have them.

“What are you smiling about?” Bonnie asked with a teasing smirk.

Laughing, Shego shook her head. “Nothing. Just remembering.”

“How about you help instead of taking a trip down memory lane so soon?” Bonnie suggested.

Emerald eyes rolled and Shego sucked her teeth. But, she got up to help them. She went to Kim first because the redhead had more crap she needed help with shoving junk into her suitcases. Plus, Bonnie had ordered her around, so she had to disobey in some manner. Bonnie actually finished her packing before they finished Kim’s stuff, so she joined the other two.

“Kimmie, baby, do you really need this junk?” Bonnie inquired while she and Shego tried to situate a large plushy toy in the bag. Shego just tried to shove it in the corner, so they could zip the bag up and move on with their lives, but even that did not seem to work.

“I wanted to make sure I got everybody something nice,” Kim answered.

“Who the hell is ‘everybody’? The whole city of Middleton?” Shego asked in disbelief, still attempting to fit the plush toy in the corner.

“Well, my parents, my brothers, and I got your parents something for giving us this dream vacation,” she explained.

Shego’s brow wrinkled. “That’s six people. Six goddamn people. What the fuck is all this junk for?” she asked with a sigh. She suspected Kim shopped for more than just those six people, but probably did not want to admit it.

“Well, every time we went out shopping, I’d see something I thought one of them would like and I’d get it, even if I already got them something,” Kim replied with a sheepish look on her face.

Shego and Bonnie only laughed and then they smiled. Kim was so cute without meaning to be. It was just that her heart was so big and they thought that was just too adorable. Sometimes that big heart worked against Kim, but Shego and Bonnie liked to believe they could protect their lover’s heart, when she gave them the chance anyway.

“You are too much,” Bonnie said, shaking her head. Kim blushed.

They finished packing Kim’s things and prepared for their flight. They had to put their disguises on, which included having to put heavy makeup on Shego. They liked to believe that most of the world had forgotten about them after two months, but they put on their guises just in case.

“I hate this stuff. I swear, if we’re not on every paper when we get to the airport, I’m washing it off,” Shego complained.

“It’s not that bad,” Bonnie replied, wearing makeup as well. Unlike before, she chose to make herself darker since her tan was richer now. Kim was still the worse disguise out of all of them.

“You don’t have on layers of it like I do,” Shego grumbled.

“Let’s hope you don’t need it,” Kim said, adjusting her hat.

“And how the hell do people not know it’s you with just a hat and some glasses?” Shego huffed.

Kim shrugged. “I don’t know.” She could not explain it beyond the fact that she carried herself different in the cap. She stood with more of a hunch to her shoulders and acted more like a regular twenty-something than the hero she was. People seemed to just assume Kim Possible would be much more powerful and self-assured if they came across her.

They piled into their vehicle to head to the rent-a-car center. They dropped off their car and then they got into the shuttle bus to the airport. They checked most of their bags, each carrying two on. Unlike their first flight, there was no fight over who would sit where. Bonnie and Shego actually conceded the window seat to Kim since they knew she would sleep the most. Apparently, putting Kim on a plane without a mission and hours between landmasses made the redhead’s body just shutdown. Her girlfriends suspected her body was trying to recharge from all of her activity.

Bonnie decided to take the aisle seat just to be gracious toward Shego. After all, their green-skinned lover had treated them quite like royalty for the trip, so she could sacrifice a seat for Shego. Shego had spoiled them rotten that trip, spending money on them like each day would be their last day on Earth. It had been like a dream come true for Bonnie.

Shego was content for a few minutes with the middle seat, but boredom set in quickly. She turned to look at Kim, who was knocked out as expected. She was going to give a repeat performance of her semi-appreciated stunt on the flight to the island, but she decided against it. She just was not in the mood to be that kind of bad girl. She turned her attention to Bonnie, who had wisely brought a book on board that time around.

“Hey, Duchess,” Shego said.

Bonnie had to fight the urge to grin upon hearing the nickname. It had been two months since Shego had dubbed her “duchess,” but it still made her feel quite delighted on the inside. She liked to tell herself that a name should not make her feel so good, but it was such a nice term of endearment.

“Yes, sweetness?” Bonnie replied without looking up from her book.

“I’m bored,” she stated with a forced pout, but it was not getting her the desired attention because her lover was not turning away from her book.

“I have a few magazines for you,” Bonnie said absently. She knew Shego liked to read different types of magazines and she had purchased over a dozen of them for the older woman. She did not think Shego had the foresight to do so, probably not thinking about the boredom she suffered on the flight over.

“I don’t want to read,” Shego informed her girlfriend in a suggestive tone.

Bonnie glanced over at Shego and could see that hint of mischief in those emerald eyes. Bonnie smirked, guessing what was on Shego’s mind. The former thief smiled because of Bonnie’s expression.

“You’re thinking what I’m thinking, aren’t you?” Shego asked.

“I’d like to think I am,” Bonnie replied with a devilish glint in her eyes.

Shego leaned back while putting the tray down. Bonnie put her tray down, too, and placed her book on it. They both checked on Kim to make sure that she was still sleeping. The last thing they wanted was for the redhead to wake up and lecture them about plane etiquette. Once they were certain that the petite hero was knocked out, they proceeded to have some fun, naughty fun. It kept them busy for a while, even though it earned them quite a few stares, especially whenever one of them let loose a particularly loud moan. A flight attendant even came over at one point in time, but they were able to bluff her away.

-8-8-8-8-

The trio arrived at their temporary home after midnight. They dropped their bags, Kim and Bonnie following Shego’s example. Shego then rushed to the bathroom to get that gods’ forsaken makeup off of her before she had to scratch her flesh off for relief. They were staying in a small, cozy house that belonged to Isabel. She was allowing them to stay there until they found their own place since it was agreed upon that they could not stay with the Possibles forever. The trio just felt like it was pathetic for them to be living with Kim’s parents. Of course, Shego did not feel much better about them mooching off her mother.

“You guys want to fall out or what?” Shego inquired, her face now clear of all traces of makeup. 

“I had enough sleep on the plane,” Kim replied.

“I had enough of ‘or what’ on the plane,” Bonnie remarked.

Shego laughed. “Me, too.” Then a jolt shot through her as she thought about the flight. “Well, not really enough,” she added with a smirk. Bonnie shared a similar expression.

Kim looked between her lovers and realized they had an inside joke. The hero pouted because of her girls having an inside joke for a reason that she did not want to think too deeply on. She kind of felt left out. Her girlfriends noticed and they threw their arms around her, pulling Kim into an embrace.

“It’s nothing, baby. You wouldn’t have wanted to be a part of it,” Bonnie assured the redhead.

Kim decided to take Bonnie’s word on that, especially when Shego nodded in agreement. The trio went to the living room and they flopped down on the couch. They were about to lie down in their usual position, but they stopped for a second.

“Before we get comfortable,” Shego started.

“We should get stuff if we want it,” Kim finished and Bonnie nodded.

Since Shego knew the house already, she got up and got the things she figured her girlfriends would want. She made some tea for all three of them. She brought out some cookies for Bonnie, even though Bonnie preferred fig newtons to regular cookies.

“Sorry, Duchess, but my mother doesn’t eat a lot of junk,” Shego explained about the oatmeal cookies.

“These’ll do,” Bonnie assured the ex-sidekick.

The group then got situated, not in their typical way since they all had tea to drink. They made themselves comfortable, tangling up their legs together while sitting on the sofa. Kim was in between them with Shego to her left and Bonnie to the right. Once they were all fine with the way that they were, they decided to talk.

“Shego, how long is your mother going to let us stay here?” Kim asked curiously, looking around the living room. It was a small area with few decorations, not something that Kim or Bonnie expected of Isabel.

“As long as we want to,” Shego answered, almost as if that was obvious.

“Then where’s she going to stay?” Bonnie inquired and then she took a sip of her tea.

“She’s staying with my dad at his hotel, probably trying to fuck him to death,” Shego remarked as if that was a normal thing to say.

“You always swear your mom is trying to kill your dad, but you figure after thirty something years, she would’ve gotten around to it by now,” Bonnie commented.

“That’s what she wants you to think, so you don’t suspect her,” Shego replied, almost as if she was serious. Her girlfriends chuckled a bit.

“Hey, why does your mom have this house, anyway? She doesn’t live in Middleton, right?” Bonnie asked.

“And there’s no way your whole family could fit here, so it can’t be a house from your childhood,” Kim added in. The house definitely was not big enough for a family of seven.

“Nah, she likes the skiing in Middleton and whined to my father about having some place to stay when she comes up here to be a ski bum,” Shego explained and then she took a sip of her tea.

“Why not get a cabin on the mountains?” Kim asked, squinting in confusion.

“Because my mother’s a fucking weirdo and she likes being around people, but doesn’t like socializing with them,” the former thief answered with a rude noise that was directed toward her mother.

“Kane really spoils you guys, huh?” Bonnie noted.

Shego made another noise, as if she disagreed. She was spoiled, but she was not going to admit that out loud, even though she was not ashamed of it. But, she was not going to pass up a chance to insult her mother while it was right there and Isabel was nowhere around.

Shego snorted. “He just spoils my mother because she’s such a damn gold-digger.”

“You don’t believe that,” Kim argued.

The ex-sidekick sucked her teeth, but she did not respond. Bonnie decided to jump in, knowing she could get some good-natured teasing in. Shego noticed the demonic glint in Bonnie’s eyes before she even opened her mouth.

“You’re just acting like this because you’ve got an Electra complex,” Bonnie commented with a taunting smirk.

“I don’t have a damn Electra complex!” Shego huffed in a fury. She hated to hear that because her mother told her that all of the time. “Let’s just forget about my stupid mother and concentrate on finding a home of our own as soon as possible, so we can get the hell out of here!”

“We’ve only been here an hour. You’re acting like we were here for years. I’m sure your mommy won’t mind,” Bonnie replied with an amused smile.

“Bon-bon, I know one of my feet is close to you. I will kick you,” Shego seemed to promise. They all knew Shego could not hit Bonnie, but she would probably hit Kim when the urge to hit Bonnie came over her. It was all a part of her “well, I have to hit somebody” defense and Kim did not take offense to it.

“Let’s talk about where we’d like to live,” Kim chimed in to avoid getting punched in the arm because she knew Bonnie would just keep pushing Shego’s buttons.

“A mansion would be nice,” the lawyer proposed with a grin. She guessed it would be a good time to say that one since Shego was so into spoiling them now. She was willing to bet Shego could afford it, too.

“Just the three of us in a huge mansion? I don’t think you’d like it as much as you think you would,” Shego replied quite seriously.

Bonnie seemed surprised by that response. “No?”

“It’s not all it’s cracked up to be,” Shego assured Bonnie. Bonnie only sighed, slightly defeated. She would not be giving up her dream of living in a mansion so easily. Even if a person that had more than likely lived in a mansion told her that it was not that great.

“Well, we should live some place that’s close to the school, but also close to Bonnie’s new firm,” Kim reasoned.

Shego and Bonnie nodded in agreement. Shego had sprung the news on them that Bonnie was the newest lawyer at quite the elite firm. Her news earned her an eager, overjoyed Bonnie leaping into her arms and placing a rather scandalous kiss to her mouth. She had gotten nonstop tongue action for almost a whole minute and if Bonnie did not have to breathe, it would have lasted longer. Shego made a mental note to do good things for Bonnie more often.

“Well, yeah, that’s a given. Maybe we should just try to find a place downtown,” Shego suggested.

“We’d have an easier time finding some place at the center of the Earth,” Bonnie remarked.

“Yeah,” Kim agreed with that one.

“Hey, I can make some calls,” Shego figured.

“It still wouldn’t help,” Bonnie argued.

“Oh!” Kim said showing that she just got an idea. “What about living in the school?” she suggested.

“Living in the school?” Bonnie echoed with a wrinkled forehead and raised eyebrow. Shego nodded, though, as if she understood where Kim was going with that.

“That’s a great idea, Pumpkin. We could do so much to that little rundown piece of shit that we call a school now! We can finally fix up the basement, clear out all of those spaces in the back, and add a third floor to live on!” Shego said with accidental enthusiasm. The idea of getting to pull her weight around in the relationship tended to excite her a great deal. It was little things like that that let her know she loved her girls and she would have to kill them if they ever broke up because they knew too much. She had no plans to kill them, though.

“Um… live at the school?” Bonnie repeated because they wanted to live at the school. Had they not seen the school? It was a work-in-progress after being a work-in-progress. They might as well go live on a construction site.

“Princess, that’s a great idea!” Shego repeated and was close to pulling Kim in for a hug, but the redhead stopped her.

“Hot tea, hot tea, hot tea!” Kim shouted in a rush, which halted the pale woman’s action as she recalled they all did have hot tea in their hands. The hero sighed in relief as she just missed possibly being burned.

“Put the damn tea down for a second!” Shego pointed out the obvious and the moment Kim did so, she yanked the smaller warrior into her lap.

“You guys really want to live in the school?” Bonnie asked because she just could not believe it.

“Well, not in the school as it is,” Kim pointed out, working her way back into her seat. She wanted to finish her tea, after all.

“We’ll live in the school after we fix it up. We’ll add a third floor to the building and that’ll be our apartment. We can fix up the basement for a better locker room and clear out all of the extra space to have practice rooms in case we get any students that are serious about practicing. We could have a weapons room. We could fix the area for the little kids and set up like a place for them to tumble and stuff like that. It’ll kick ass,” Shego declared.

“This sounds expensive,” Kim realized.

“Uh, hi, Kimmie, I’m a former international thief and mercenary as well as an heiress, have we met?” Shego said, waving to the redhead. It thrilled her to have people to spend her money, which was a surprise to her. Nevertheless, she liked pampering Kim and Bonnie; she hated to think that she was coming to understand why her father treated her mother as he did.

“Um… well…” Kim was not too sure how to respond to that. She squirmed in her seat a little, which caused Shego to frown.

“You got a problem with me spending my money on you guys and our school?” Shego asked. There was a little ball of hurt right in her throat at the moment.

“No, no, no!” Kim answered in a hurry, seeing the hurt in emerald eyes.

“I think Kimmie’s a little uncomfortable with you throwing your money around like you have been recently,” Bonnie commented.

Shego squinted and shook her head. “No? What’s the big deal? It’s my money. I made it out of boredom and now I can have some fun spending it.”

It was Bonnie’s turn to be confused. “You made it out of boredom?”

“Long story short, I got bored playing superhero and thought it would be more fun to do what I used to do. End of story. Back to this whole ‘Kimmie’s uncomfortable’ thing. What’s wrong with me throwing my money around?” Shego asked.

“Um… well…” Kim stammered again. Once more, she wiggled in her seat.

“This goes beyond Shego spending money, doesn’t it, baby?” Bonnie asked in a gentle, concerned tone. She placed a tender hand to Kim’s shoulder, knowing contact would help Kim open up.

“Well, it’s just, you guys… Well, you have a job and Shego’s got all this money, so now it kinda feels like you’re both taking care of me and I’m just bumming around you, like being a leech or something. I dunno. Maybe I should finally just join Global Justice to at least have a steady income and not be a drag on you guys,” Kim explained in a mumble.

“Aw, baby,” Bonnie cooed as she put her tea down in order to embrace Kim. Shego followed suit, so they were all hugged up on the sofa.

“First of all, do _not_ join Global Justice,” Shego ordered. She did not even want to think about how annoying that would be. “Second of all, you’re not bumming around us and you’re not a drag on us.”

“Besides, we like taking care of you,” Bonnie chimed in. “To be honest, I liked when I was the only one between us with a real job.” She liked when she was taking care of them, but she did not mind them having jobs now.

“You still are,” Shego reminded the attorney. She did not think her and Kimmie’s teaching jobs would be “real jobs” until they started pulling in a “real” profit. “And if that’s an open invitation to having you spoil the shit of me, sign me up please,” she added with a playful smile. But, she was quite serious, except she had to remember Bonnie did not know when to stop when it came to spoiling. If Bonnie got into a spoiling mindset, Shego would end up fat.

“That’s the thing, Kim. You’ve got to be open to letting us spoil you. Kinda like how you spoil us,” Bonnie said.

“I spoil you guys? How the hell is that even possible? I can barely afford to take you guys out on a date thanks to my ‘freelance photographer’ job,” Kim remarked with a pout, making quote marks with her fingers as she brought up her job. Her girls just squeezed her tighter in the hug.

“Kimmie, Kimmie, Kimmie,” Shego commented in a disapproving manner.

“You’re such a silly girl,” Bonnie said to the redhead with a tender expression on her face. “Kim, first of all, we’re not with you for the money. You never really had money and if you keep living your life the way you are, you never will. We don’t mind that. We like being able to provide for you, especially since it makes us feel like we’re showing you’re as special to us as you make us feel,” she explained.

Kim’s face scrunched up from being bewildered. “I make you feel special?” she asked as if she did not know.

“Damn it, Princess, why are you making us get all mushy?” Shego frowned. The serious sweet-talking was just about her least favorite part of being in a relationship. “You’re pretty much the sweetest thing in the whole freaking world and we feel lucky just to have you as a girlfriend, okay? Now, butch up and stop being such a damn baby!” she huffed as if she was angry.

“Um… the non-bitchy version of what Shego’s trying to say is that being with you gives us this indescribable feeling, something even deeper than love maybe, and this is what we’re trying to make you feel, too. Can’t you just go with it, just once?” Bonnie requested.

“I don’t want to be a drag on you two,” Kim mumbled.

“You’re not, Kimmie. So, calm down. You can’t be on top of everything,” Shego remarked and immediately a nasty thought popped in her head that she needed to share. “But, you can be on top of me if you. Duchess, too. I’ll happily just lie on the bottom.”

“Like hell you would. You’ve got to be the only person on the planet that would complain about being the center of attention during sex with two other hot-ass women,” Bonnie declared.

“Hey, you two tease me a lot,” Shego argued in her own defense.

“You’re in bed with two females, what makes you think teasing isn’t going to be involved?” Bonnie countered.

“Touché,” Shego conceded. “All right, all right, has the crisis been sufficiently mended?” Shego asked Kim, who nodded. The oldest of them continued then. “So, we’re living in the school after fixing it up. With no more arguments, I suggest we go to the bedroom and work out that whole ‘me being on the bottom’ thing. I know I’m bad at it, but practice makes perfect and all that rot.”

“You’re just going to defile your mother’s house by having hot, lesbian sex in it, huh?” Bonnie inquired, sounding as if she did not approve of such a plan.

Shego thought about it for a moment and then a look of sheer evil washed over her face. “We should totally do it on her bed!”

Bonnie rolled her eyes while Kim practically did a face-fault off of that suggestion. While they did agree to go to bed after finishing their tea and they even agreed to fool around a little bit, they refused to do anything disrespectful in Isabel’s room. Shego pouted over that decision, but she did not get the reaction she wanted. Well, at least they were still going to get it on, Shego told herself to cheer herself up.

-8-8-8-8-

“Okay, so we’re going to need city permits and contractors,” Bonnie said as the ladies had breakfast and wandered about the kitchen, as was their habit. It seemed like whenever they had a home-cooked breakfast, they had to get up every thirty seconds for something. 

“I can get those things. No problem,” Shego replied, her head in the refrigerator because she wanted something that was not apple or pineapple juice. It seemed that all her mother drank was apple or pineapple juice, though. _Blah_ , she commented mentally while making a sour face.

“You can get city permits?” the younger pair echoed in a skeptical tone.

“Well… I can get something that looks very much like city permits,” she offered with a sly grin that her girlfriends thankfully could not see.

“You’re not forging city permits,” Kim objected. She ate standing up, which was something she usually did when it came to breakfast. It was like she was waiting for someone to call her and she could run off, plate still in her hand. She had done that a couple of times before when Wade contacted her over real emergencies. The plates never made it back, but she did, so that was more than enough.

“Why not?” Shego inquired, sounding a bit like she was whining. She stood up and shut the fridge door, upset there was nothing in there worth drinking.

“Because you’re out of the crime life,” Kim answered. 

“Not according to my last arrest,” Shego remarked with a little chuckle. Her last arrest was the one where she and Kim had been picked up for sodomy.

“I’ll try to get everything we need, nice and legal,” Kim stated soundly to hopefully get the former villainess to stop her current train of thought.

Shego shrugged. “Fine, but I can get some damn nice forgeries. You’d never know the difference.”

“Let’s stay out of trouble for the first few hours we’re home,” Bonnie said to Shego, who shrugged again.

Kim decided to call up Wade to see if she had any friends left considering the backlash of people finding out she was a lesbian and involved in a love triangle. As she was about to get Wade on the line, she realized she had not heard from him since her vacation started, which was odd. It had been two months, after all. Sometimes, she could not go two hours without hearing from Wade. She hoped he was all right. She was relieved to see he was fine when she got him on the Kimmunicator.

“Hey, Kim. Glad to see you’re back in action,” Wade greeted her with a genuine smile. She thought that was a peculiar thing for him to say.

“When was I not in action?” Kim asked with an arched eyebrow.

Wade bristled. “Uh… um… well…” he stammered nervously, not sure how to get himself out of the little slip of the tongue that he had.

“Spill, Wade,” Kim ordered with a glare.

“It’s nothing!” the computer genius lied.

“It’s something. Now, what is it?” the redhead demanded.

“What? It’s nothing! I mean, it was just a weird thing to say!” he insisted with vigor.

“That you didn’t say for no reason. Now, tell me why you said it,” Kim commanded him. Her tone alone would have flustered him, but the fact that he could see her expression added to things. He started singing like a canary.

“I just… I… Shego told me you were going to be out of commission for a while!” Wade blurted out.

“I can hear you ratting me out, nerdlinger!” Shego huffed from a few feet away. The computer genius cringed when he heard her voice.

Kim sighed. “Okay, okay, okay. Let’s calm down. What’s this about me being out of commission?” she inquired, speaking to Wade, but looking over at Shego.

“Well, Shego contacted me like two months ago and told me to turn off your site because you were going to be out of commission for an unknown amount of time,” Wade explained. “Don’t let her hurt me,” he begged.

“Oh, she won’t be able to stop me,” Shego threatened him with a creepy smirk on her face. She snaked around Kim to look into the Kimmunicator to let the computer genius see her expression. She looked absolutely evil. He gulped.

“Shego,” Kim scolded her lover and swatted her to get her to stop scaring poor Wade.

“This isn’t fair,” Wade muttered in a tearful tone. He was being grilled by probably the scariest women on the planet and they were not on the same side for the moment, so he did not even know who to answer.

“Keep going, Wade. You turned off my site? So, you mean to tell me people might have been trying to get contact with me for two months?” the hero inquired in disbelief.

“Yup,” Wade answered.

“Shego, why’d you tell him to do that?” Kim demanded, now glaring at her girlfriend.

Shego shrugged. “Um… because we were on vacation, doy! You don’t understand the concept well enough for me to just sit back and not tell the computer geek to stop all your unnecessary contacts,” she replied casually.

“She’s right, baby. You wouldn’t have relaxed if you were being called every three seconds about a hit on your site. Good work, Wade,” Bonnie said, joining her girlfriends and looking down at Wade.

The computer genius seemed at a loss for words for almost a full minute. “Um… why are all of you together?” he inquired in a very bemused tone.

“Oh, right, you don’t know the truth behind all of the rumors and fake reports,” Kim said. She had told him a little bit about everything to make sure he did not have the wrong idea, but she never got around to telling him the full truth.

“The truth? What’re you all friends?” Wade asked, which earned him some laughs from Bonnie and Shego. Their chuckles only perplexed him more.

“The truth of the matter is that we’re all girlfriends, Wade,” Kim informed him.

“Okay, so you are all friends,” he said with a bit of a sigh. He did not know why he had exhaled like that, but it seemed like the right thing to do for him.

“No, she doesn’t mean girlfriends like that,” Shego corrected him.

“Wade, we’re all girlfriends, in a loving relationship,” Kim elaborated.

Wade nodded, showing that he understood for the most part now. “I guess that explains why you’re all together and why Shego gave a damn about turning off your site while you had that bit of trouble.”

“You’re not bothered by it?” Kim asked in a confused tone because of his laid-back attitude toward the news. She was shocked he did not freak out. As far as she knew, he was just about the first person to take the news in stride.

“Hey, Kim, what you do in the privacy of your own home with consenting parties in regards to love has nothing to do with me… unless I can a satellite link, anyway,” he remarked, appearing a bit thoughtful as those words left his mouth. It was like he was trying to think of a way to look in on them.

“You’d better not spy on us!” all three ladies ordered him with furious expressions.

Wade laughed nervously. Wow, he was pretty sure that now the three most frightening women on the planet were all in a relationship. It was a nerve-wrecking thing and he made a mental note to watch his jokes around them.

“Umm… I’d never!” Well, he would never do it now. “Look, Kim, I’m not about to turn my back on you after being with you this long. Besides, you’re the person that got me to go outside. I used to be a ten-year-old recluse, so I’m not going to make fun of you or judge you or anything about something like this. You might wanna sleep with one eye open, though,” he remarked.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Shego demanded, knowing he was taking a shot at her.

Kim sighed. “Well, I guess since the world wasn’t taken over while I was gone, no harm done. Did I get any really serious calls while I was out?” she asked Wade to get the subject away from her girlfriends and save the poor boy an ass-kicking if Shego’s expression was hint of what she was planning.

“Well, from what I can tell, a bunch of reporters were trying to get to you for a comment, but they gave up a couple of weeks ago. You got a few hits about thefts and things that were connected to serious matters, but GJ managed to clean those up before they got too messy. A couple of them were close calls, but GJ managed to pull through somehow. This might put a smile on your face, though,” Wade replied.

“What?” Kim asked curiously.

Wade did not respond, but he patched Kim through to a web page. It was filled with words from well-wishers and supporters. There were thousands of signatures and some had left short speeches toward not just Kim, but Bonnie and Shego, too. The ladies were all so touched that they could not speak. Even when Wade came back on screen, they were silent.

“You guys have a lot of supporters, even if they don’t know the whole situation. But, you gotta be careful, too, because there’s just as much hate going around about you guys,” Wade explained.

“We can take care of it,” Kim declared and she gave a confident look to both of her girlfriends. They nodded in agreement; hell, yeah they could take care of it. As long as they were together, they were all sure they would take whatever the world tried to throw at them.

“All right. So, why’d you call, anyway?” Wade asked curiously.

“Oh, right,” Kim said with a sheepish laugh because she had almost forgotten her original reason for contacting Wade. “Do you think I have enough pull around here to get some building permits? We’re trying to renovate our school to add a floor to the building to make it an apartment for us,” she explained. 

“I’ll poke around for you. There’s got to be at least one politician that acknowledges that you’re still the same Kim Possible as always. I’ll get back to you later today, okay?” he inquired.

“That’s spanking,” she answered.

“Later.” They both disconnected the call.

“You know, I probably could get forgeries faster than he could get real ones,” Shego boasted as she returned to her breakfast.

“That wouldn’t make them any more legal, though,” Bonnie argued.

“Don’t side with her when you knew you would’ve been right there with me,” Shego said, giving Bonnie a sneer.

“That’s speculation on your part,” Bonnie replied with a teasing smirk. She was actually on Kim’s side with the permits. It was better to do things legally to avoid problems in the future.

“Okay, look, while Wade’s doing that, we should plan a bit further into this home thing,” Kim suggested.

“We’re going to need a serious fucking security system. Is it all right if I handle that one?” Shego inquired sarcastically. If anybody knew security systems it was her.

“I’ll get my brothers and Wade to help,” Kim offered. Shego shrugged since she knew what those kids could. After all, Wade had kept Kim up-to-date in gadgets for almost ten years and she knew the tweebs had been the ones who made Kim’s first car.

“Your brothers are all right with us?” Bonnie inquired, speaking to the hero.

“I didn’t get the chance to explain it much, but they’re all right with it to their understanding of things. It doesn’t matter anyway, you know how Jim and Tim are,” the redhead answered.

“I can see them now ‘you with the two of them? Hoo-sha!’ And then we’re going to have to scan the whole building for hidden cameras for the two pervs,” Bonnie remarked. She was quite serious, though.

“Oh, well, that’s a given,” Kim commented.

“We can plan it now for a little while and then we’ve got to go check on the school,” Shego said. Her girlfriends agreed with that.

-8-8-8-8-

The trio entered the school and they were surprised by the size of the class Isabel had. They looked around the room, puzzled for a moment. It was not until they saw Kane laid out in the corner did they get over things. Shego could not help wondering if her mother had knocked her father unconscious or if he had just fallen asleep from sitting still for too long. 

“Firefly!” Isabel smiled brightly when she noticed her daughter. The students turned to see who their substitute teacher was referring to. 

“Goddamn it,” Shego sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. She was going to kill that woman one day soon, she silently vowed.

“Teach!” less than half of the students cheered. Apparently, the students who Shego had left behind were quite happy to see her. 

“Wow, it’s packed,” Kim muttered in amazement about the class. 

“Yeah,” Bonnie said, just as amazed as her redheaded girlfriend.

“Mommy, what the hell is going on?” Shego inquired while going up to her mother. She spoke in a low, hissing tone. 

Isabel knew immediately what the problem was. “All these people showed up because of all of the press you guys were getting before. They’re kind off… supporters and groupies at the same time,” she commented with a slight shrug. She knew her daughter was a bit worried that all of the new faces might actually be there because she was teaching the class and they would be upset when Shego took over. Isabel doubted anyone would mind when Shego took back control of the class, though. None of these people even knew who Isabel was. As far as they were concerned, she was merely a sub until their real teacher returned.

The super-powered female was silent for a moment, taking that in. “All these new people showed up just because of the news we got?” she asked in disbelief.

“Yes, a great deal of them are fans of yours and fans of Kim. Oh, you should all go see Kimmie’s little class. And, um, she really needs to take control of that as soon as possible,” Isabel muttered that last sentence in a tone that did not leave her daughter with great confidence.

“What have those little idiots been up to?” Shego sighed, referring to the Wegos. 

“I don’t even know where to begin explaining that one. Look, let me finish up here and then we can all talk,” Isabel answered.

Shego nodded in agreement to that one and decided to observe her mother for the class’ final minutes. Kim and Bonnie went up stairs to check on the younger students. Kim’s eyes practically fell out of her skull and her jaw pretty much fell through the floor. The Wegos seemed to have rearranged her class and had the kids’ competing in gladiator-style matches.

“We might actually get sued for this,” Bonnie muttered. 

There was a circular arena, made up over several tables to act as borders. There were four kids in the enclosure while the rest of the class and the two supposed teachers cheered them on from behind the desks as they fought each other. Bonnie looked at her shell-shocked girlfriend and figured that the Wegos were probably as good as dead when Kim regained her mind.

“What are you two doing?” Kim screamed with fury as she stormed over to the Wegos. Yup, they were as good as dead. 

-8-8-8-8- 

The trio, Isabel, and Kane sat in the backroom of the school now that all of the students were gone. The Wegos had wisely fled the scene after spending a great deal of time, trembling in terror in a corner hoping Kim did not devour their souls. A lot of students had stuck around to welcome back Shego and Kim, which acted as a distraction for the Wegos to escape before one seriously irate little redhead tied them in knots.

“So, did you three like your vacation?” Isabel inquired with a small smile.

“Loved it,” Bonnie and Kim answered with pleasant, but slightly dazed smiles. Their eyes seemed to sparkle as they thought back to the vacation. Their expressions told Isabel more than their words just how much they enjoyed their vacation. It helped that they all seemed to have a glow about them.

“That’s good. I’m glad you had a good time and got to regain your composure,” Isabel commented with a nod. The vacation seemed to do for the trio just what she expected and she was glad they could come home to no media, even though the story had not completely blown over yet. But, then again, the story might never totally blow over until Kim stopped being relevant in the world anyway.

“So, whaddaya gonna do about your housing problem?” Kane asked while yawning and scratching his head. They just woke him up from quite a nice nap, but he did not mind since Isabel was the one who took him from his sleep. He had actually woken up with a smile on his face, which sort of let his wife know what he had dreamed about. 

“We’re going to fix this place up,” Shego answered, motioning around with her hand.

“You’re going to live in this room?” Kane inquired, shaking his head.

Isabel groaned and rubbed her eyes for a moment. “Should I hit you now or later?” she countered, speaking to her husband. He sat next to her on one of the folding chairs against the wall, so it would be very easy to knock him around a bit if necessary.

“It’d be nice to just get it out of the way,” he replied.

Isabel did not hesitate, slapping Kane in the head. His head snapped to the side and he used it as an excuse to flop into Isabel’s lap. She sighed and rolled her eyes while Bonnie and Kim laughed a bit at the couple’s typical behavior. Shego rolled her eyes, too, when Isabel started caressing Kane’s scalp, causing him to smile like a happy child.

“So, you’re going to live in the school? How are you going to do that?” Isabel asked the trio.

“We’re going to renovate it, doy,” Shego answered.

“I know some great contractors,” Kane offered.

“Since when?” Isabel inquired with her mouth turn up.

“Oh, right, you were the one who hired those people that built the villa we have on the coast. Okay, so obviously you know some great contractors,” he corrected himself. He was not being sarcastic either, which made Kim and Bonnie laugh.

“We have got to do something about your mind,” Isabel sighed and shook her head while continuing to caress Kane’s head. 

“Maybe if you stop trying to give him brain damage,” Shego suggested.

Isabel scoffed. “I don’t tell you what to do with you mates, so you don’t tell me what to do with mine.” She turned her attention to the whole trio. “I do know plenty of contractors who surprisingly aren’t assholes or crooks. If you want me to get in touch with them, I’ll have them here in no time,” she said.

“We can find our own contractors,” Shego declared, folding her arms across her chest. 

“Oh, you mean all your underworld buddies? Yeah, let’s trust them with building something important for a world hero like Kim,” Isabel commented sarcastically.

“Touché,” Bonnie said with a laugh and she nudged her pale girlfriend with her elbow.

Shego frowned, obviously not pleased with being made fun of. She punched Kim in the shoulder, not hard, but enough to get the redhead to wince slightly. Kim grimaced and frowned herself, knowing she had been hit because of Bonnie. Shego then seemed to apologize for the hit by throwing her arm around Kim and pulling the younger female to her. Kim relaxed into Shego’s side and the elder female kissed the side of Kim’s head. 

“What were you saying about hitting mates now?” Isabel teased.

“Shut up, Mommy,” Shego grumbled. 

“I can pay for it,” Kane offered with a smile, getting everyone back on track.

“I’ve got that part, Daddy,” Shego assured the man. Geez, she wanted to do something and everyone kept jumping in on what she had planned. It was slightly annoying, even if her father was trying to come in on the scheme.

“Fine, don’t let me do anything then,” Kane complained in grumble.

“I’m seeing a strong resemblance here,” Bonnie joked, earning a glare from Shego. 

“Don’t be a baby about things, dearest. Your little Shona wants to take responsibility for her girlfriends,” Isabel comforted him.

“What are you guys going to do about all your students while you’re renovating the school?” Kane asked.

“We didn’t get that far,” Kim admitted. 

“I could rent a hall!” Kane proposed with enthusiasm. He seemed to really want to help and probably would just volunteer for everything that came up at that point.

“If anyone’s renting a hall, it’s me,” Shego informed her father.

Isabel was a bit shocked by the little verbal disagreement between her husband and their daughter. She believed it was probably the first time Shego was not all for Kane looking to do something for her. Kane actually pouted, appearing just as shocked as his wife at Shego’s responses to him. Shego plainly saw and knew why her father looked the way that he did and that caused her to sigh. 

“Daddy, it’s not that I don’t want your help or anything. I just want to do the adult thing here,” Shego explained as best she could without admitting she just wanted to throw her money away on her girlfriends. She just wanted to spoil them rotten.

“Getting help from your Daddy isn’t an adult thing to do?” Kane asked. He was so shocked that he actually sat up, leaving what was paradise for him, namely Isabel’s lap. 

“Fine, Daddy, you can rent a hall if you really want to do that,” Shego conceded since she could see that it meant so much to him.

“And split the cost of renovations with you?” the purple-eyed male inquired.

“You’re asking for lot, Daddy,” Shego replied. 

“Kane, sweetheart, stop trying to interject yourself into their lives,” Isabel scolded her husband.

“But, I want to help,” Kane argued.

“I know, but you have to understand that this is their lives and Shona is a big girl now,” Isabel countered while pulling her husband back down into her lap.

Kane grumbled something that was very much not English, but it might not have been any language known to man. He could not really understand Shego’s point of view, even though she believed she was behaving just like he typically did. Isabel, knowing them both well, could see how they might not be able to understand each other right now since Kane’s parents had not been around when he started his family and Shego had never really shown an interest in doing things on her own if it could be helped. 

“What else do you ladies need?” Isabel asked.

“Something to make sure nothing happens to you,” Kane chimed in. 

Isabel nodded, agreeing with that assessment wholeheartedly. She knew she would not be a pleasant woman if something happened to any of the trio because she knew Shego would be crushed if something happened to her girls. Kane was with Isabel on that page. If something happened to the girlfriends, he would definitely go on the warpath and heaven help whoever was in his way.

“I’m handling the security thing, unless one of you what’s to jump in on this one, too,” Shego remarked in a deadpan tone.

Kane was about to say something, but Isabel slapped him in the side of his head, which shut him up. For probably the first time ever, Shego was happy to see her mother knocking her father around. She wanted to just do everything herself, probably also for the first time ever, and she hoped they did not offer to do anything else. 

Isabel had no plans to throw herself into any more designs because she understood how Shego felt. She would talk to Kane about it if it was necessary to get him to stay out of things. But, for the moment, she wanted to know more about their apartment plans.

“Well, what are you three going to do with a new building?” Isabel inquired. 

“We’re going to put an apartment on a new third floor for us. The basement can become the new locker room and maybe even a gym with weights and things like that. Once we get all the other spaces in here cleared out, we can have some practice rooms for serious students,” Shego explained.

Isabel nodded. “You guys have a good plan there. What about this security thing? Do you have any idea what you’re going to do?” 

“I’m going to handle that and Kimmie said she’ll get her brothers to help,” Shego answered. Kim nodded to confirm the thing about getting her brothers to help.

“I’m assuming your brothers are good,” Isabel said. 

“They’re good at building things. Great engineers. I figured Shego will have awesome ideas and they’ll just be there to build everything in a timely manner,” Kim explained. 

“Well, good luck to you all. I’ll put you in contact with the contractors. You guys should go scout places you want your temporary school to be when everything gets started,” Isabel said. All three girlfriends nodded and Isabel turned her attention to Bonnie. “Have you been by the firm yet, dear?” she asked.

“Oh, no, ma’am. They told me to come in next week when I finally called them and told them I’d be back in town,” Bonnie explained.

Isabel nodded; Kane must have done quite a number on those lawyers for them to give Bonnie an extra week of freedom after she called to tell them she could come in. That was good though, she thought. She was certain Bonnie would fit in well around there. She had heard stories about the legal rottweiler and she figured the firm would embrace her once they gave Bonnie a chance. Of course, they had to give her a serious chance first. 

“Well, we’ve got a lot of things to do, so we should probably get on the ball,” Shego proclaimed.

“Let’s go!” Kim cheered, jumping out of her chair. She was obviously just overjoyed to be doing something. 

“Um… baby, you are way too happy right now,” Bonnie commented with a slightly disturbed expression.

“It’s actually kinda creeping me out,” Shego remarked.

Isabel could not help laughing when Kim pouted and fell back into her seat. Shego and Bonnie hugged up on Kim to lift her spirits. They eventually got around to putting the wheels in motion for when they were going to start renovating the school.

-8-8-8-8- 

Wade easily got the permits the trio needed to start renovating their school building. He was a bit surprised by how eager people were to help Kim when he explained what the permits were for. As it turned out, in some circles, it just was not good business to be against a woman who had put her life on the line countless times for more than ten years without asking for anything more than a ride to her next heroic deed. So, he supplied her with those while Shego and Bonnie got in touch the contractors Isabel told them about.

“Wade, do you think you could help in designing a security system for the place, too?” Kim inquired, talking to Wade in person.

Wade, now nineteen, was quite the tall and handsome young man. He worked out, so he was muscular and it did much for his confidence, especially since ladies seemed to respond well to him. It made him much more at ease with going outside. There was also the fact that he could keep up with Kim somewhat if he joined her on missions, so his self-esteem soared now, even though sometimes he felt like Kim slowed herself down for him to keep up. That did not bother him either because it just showed him that he had a good friend in Kim that tried to keep his confidence up.

Kim and Wade sat on the front porch of Isabel’s house and just watched the street, like two kids on a boring summer day. Kim had the permits sitting next to her; Wade had delivered them in a manila envelope. Wade did not have to think too hard on the question Kim asked him about the security system.

“No problem on that. I can hook you up with the same system I’ve got on my room,” Wade replied. He did still live at home and his mother would not allow him to wire up the whole house, no matter how safe he swore it all was. 

“I don’t know if you can do that since I’m going to get the tweebs to help, too,” Kim commented.

“Oh.” Wade nodded. “If that’s the case, we probably could come up with something wicked. When are you going to ask them?”

“Tomorrow probably. I’m trying to convince Bonnie and Shego to let me drive up to their school to talk to them, but they don’t want to me go by myself,” Kim explained with a light laugh.

Wade nodded again. “They’re really overprotective of you, huh?” It seemed ridiculous for anyone to be overprotective of Kim Possible, but he felt like it was a good thing. She took care of the world’s problems, so it was nice there were two people willing to do whatever it took to take care of her. 

“I think we’re all like that with each other.”

“Well, if they’re worried, what if I went with you?” Wade offered. He did not have anything better to do, after all.

“You want to come with me?” Kim asked with a craned eyebrow and her mouth turned down a little. 

He laughed. “Don’t look so shocked.”

She gave him a leveled look. “You really want to come with me?” Yeah, he came on missions with her every now and then, but he was not usually up for just regular road trips. 

“Yeah, figure I’ll see what I’m missing with a college campus life and everything,” he replied with another laugh.

“I’ll throw out idea at them now and see if they’ll let us leave right now, if you want,” Kim proposed. She would like to get to ask her brothers about the security system as soon as she could. 

Wade shrugged and Kim went inside of the house to talk things over with her girlfriends. They were both on the phone, arguing with the same man about when they could start work on the building and how long everything would take. Kim winced for the man when she heard the things her girlfriends said. She just stood a few feet from them as they barked on the man and then they noticed Kim.

“You want something?” Shego mouthed the question to Kim, who understood completely. 

“It can wait,” Kim answered in a low voice to not interrupt the call.

“No, this is perfect,” Bonnie said. 

Shego and Bonnie both turned their attention back to the phone call. They suddenly both informed the guy on the line that they had to go, saying they were going to check with other businesses. They then hung up on the guy.

“Um… what was that?” Kim asked curiously. 

“We’re going to let him squirm a bit for to get the idea he can’t fuck us in a deal,” Shego answered with a clever smirk.

“So, what can we do for you, baby?” Bonnie inquired. 

“Look, Wade volunteered to go with me to see my brothers, so now is it okay with you guys?” Kim asked.

“What, we’re supposed to trust nerdlinger to have your back if something goes sideways?” Shego countered in a skeptical tone. 

“Stop calling him that,” Kim scolded her. “Wade’s very capable now and nothing’s going to happen anyway. I can take care of myself,” she argued. 

“We know you can, but still we worry,” Bonnie easily admitted.

“You don’t really have to. I’m going to a college campus. The only place more liberal than that is a hippie commune. So, I should be fine,” the redhead pointed out. 

Bonnie and Shego looked at each other. They seemed to be holding a conversation telepathically as far as Kim could tell. They moved their heads every now and then and made gestures with their hands. Then they turned back to her.

“Don’t take too long,” Bonnie said. 

“Call us when you get there and when you’re leaving,” Shego answered.

Kim rolled her eyes. “Yes, moms,” she teased.

“Don’t be a smart-ass,” they both said.

Kim only smiled. They kissed her and Shego gave Kim her car keys. Kim dashed out of the house, grabbing Wade on the way; he wisely grabbed the permits, so they did not end up left on the porch. Shego and Bonnie went back to taunting the contractor, hoping to get him to crack.

-8-8-8-8-

The drive to the tweebs’ school was not too long considering they went to their father’s alma mater. Wade was impressed with the size of the campus and the attention of the women he got as soon as they got out of the car. He was starting to think he might need to go to college, despite the fact that he had all of the degrees he would need in life. 

“Hey, sis!” Kim heard, causing her and Wade to stop. They turned around and noticed the twins approaching them.

“Hey, guys,” Kim replied, waving to them. 

“What are you doing here?” Jim inquired as the boys stood before their big sister, who they were much bigger than now.

“Can’t a big sister come check up on her tweebs? How have you guys been?” Kim countered.

“Well, we’re not getting the same attention from the media as we had been a couple of months ago. I sorta miss the attention,” Tim remarked with a laugh and a half-smile. 

“You miss figuring out ways to distort their transmission signals,” Jim quipped with a good-natured smile.

Tim laughed again. “That, too.”

“Everything’s been okay with you guys, right?” Kim asked with concern. The media had harped on her and her lovers so badly she forgot they might go after her family as well. Oh boy, she pitied anyone who thought to interview her nana.

“Oh, yeah. All this buzz about you having to chose between two girls have made us extra-popular around here,” Jim replied, motioning around the campus with a wave of his large hand.

“Popular?” Kim echoed in a puzzled tone.

“Oh, yeah. After all, these guys around here have trouble getting girls to even look in their direction, yet they find out we have a sister who can get two hot chicks at once and they swear we have all the girl answers,” Tim explained.

“And the girls. Goddamn! Girls seemed to find you a lot more interesting when you can help them with lab reports and your sister is a lesbian with two girlfriends,” Jim added in with an excited expression. 

“I’d like to say I don’t see the connection, but from the way our students have been hitting on Isabel just because her daughter’s a lesbian, the world doesn’t make much sense to me anymore romantically speaking,” Kim remarked.

“Says the girl with two girlfriends,” all three geniuses chimed in simultaneously. 

Kim only laughed. She was glad to see her brothers were fine with what was going in her life. She was not too sure how they would react to her in person, even though she had spoken to them over the phone plenty of times since the whole incident became public knowledge. They had seemed fine with everything over the phone, but now it was all confirmed. She could breathe a little easier now.

“So, what brings you by, sis?” Tim inquired in pleasant tone.

“I was hoping you guys would team up with Wade and design a security system for me,” Kim answered. 

“Sounds interesting. Continue,” Jim said with a hand to his chin as if he was in deep thought about the subject when he was actually just posing to be silly.

“Shego’s probably going to want to be in on the project,” Kim explained. 

Jim and Tim looked at each other. “Shego?” they echoed.

“Yeah, she’s smarter than you think,” Kim assured them, thinking they might be skeptical on Shego’s ability to keep up with them.

“She’d probably come up with some wicked ideas,” Tim figured with a huge, happy grin. His double nodded in agreement.

“Hoo-sha!” the twins cheered.

Kim sighed. Maybe it was not the best idea for Jim and Tim to team up with Shego, even if Wade would be there to try to taper their insanity. Well, there was no stopping it now. 

“If that’s it, wanna have a look around?” Jim offered.

“You can see how freaking popular we are,” Tim added with a laugh.

Kim chuckled and nodded. She hung out with her brothers and Wade for a little while before she and Wade left. She drove Wade home and then went back to the house. She went right to the living room and found her girlfriends curled up on the sofa as expected. 

“Hey, baby,” Bonnie greeted Kim when she noticed the redhead. “We got dinner for you,” she informed the hero, nodding toward the coffee table. A small box sat on the table with the mark of Kim’s favorite burger place on it.

Kim smiled and put down the city permits on the table. She grabbed the food and flopped down on the sofa, landing on Shego’s legs. Shego did not say anything. She just moved her legs to the point where it did not cut off her circulation with Kim sitting on them. 

“Thanks,” Kim said, giving both of her lovers a smile.

“We’re here for you,” Bonnie replied. Kim nodded.

-8-8-8-8-

Construction on renovating the school began with Bonnie overseeing it for the most part with Kim helping out when she was not teaching or doing her hero thing. Shego was not as much a part of it as she would like to have been because of her teaching and her input on the security system. She had a ball with that, though.

“Oh, oh, oh! What if we put electric barbed wire here?” Tim suggested, pointing down at the blueprints in the middle of the room. Around the page were Tim, Jim, Wade, and Shego. The group was set up in the Possible family living room. 

“Oh, please, why not just put a tank with electric eels in it?” Jim remarked, rolling his eyes.

“What are you two, taking courses in mad science?” Shego quipped with a teasing smile on her face. 

“Nah, those are 700 level courses,” Tim joked.

“How’s things going here?” Ann inquired as she entered the living room.

“Your sons are nuts, like your daughter,” Shego remarked.

Ann chuckled a bit and got to the business that brought her out there. “Can I get you guys anything while you make your plans?” she offered. 

“Yeah, two more designers with common sense,” Shego quipped.

“Hey, maybe Dad’ll help,” Jim suggested.

Shego and Ann looked away, skeptical expressions gracing their faces. That fact did not go by the three geniuses in the room. They looked at each other and decided to guess. 

“Lemme guess, Dad isn’t too thrilled about Kim’s little romantic arrangement,” Tim commented.

“He wasn’t too thrilled when Kim was just with Bonnie,” Jim recollected. 

“But, still, he should want to help make sure nothing happens to Kim,” Tim interjected before anyone else had a chance to jump into the conversation.

“You boys are right,” Ann agreed with them. “I’ll go get your father.” 

Ann went into the kitchen and explained the situation to James. He had retreated in there the moment Shego walked through the door. He was not opposed to the plan, but he was apprehensive when he found out Shego was involved in the project. Ann had to talk to him into going into the living room.

“James, sweetheart, you’re going to have to make yourself comfortable around Shego just like you did with Bonnie. They’re a part of Kimmie’s life now and I know you have to realize that you could drift away from Kimmie if you don’t start trying with them,” Ann said in a soft tone.

James stood in the kitchen, gripping a newspaper tightly in his fist. He had been reading it before Ann started talking to him. Of course he did not want to lose Kim, but he just could not force himself to be comfortable around Shego. He could barely pretend to be comfortable around Bonnie and she never tried to kill Kim or harm him. He just did not think what was going on was right and he could not understand how everyone else around him could pretend it was. 

“This isn’t right,” James muttered. 

Ann sighed. “It’s not right that you’re judging Kimmie on who she goes to bed with. They love her and she loves them—” she tried to argue.

“She’s twenty-four. What does she know about love?” he countered.

“More than us considering how old we were. She obviously feels something deep for both Shego and Bonnie for her to explain the whole situation to us rather trying to lie. Actually she obviously feels something deep for them just for being involved with them as she is,” Ann insisted.

He scoffed. “Shego probably tricked her.” 

“I don’t think Kim would fall for something like that. She obviously has feels for them both and I assume they have pretty deep feelings for her to settle into a relationship like this.”

“That doesn’t make it right. This goes against the way society is set up.”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re not being fair to her or yourself judging her like this. So, what if it’s not exactly the social norm? They make it work and they haven’t destroyed society as we know it. And they won’t destroy society. It makes them happy and that’s what should matter to us. Our daughter is happy,” Ann said forcefully, so much so that it shocked her husband. She glared down at him from in front of their breakfast nook.

His eyes went wide for a moment. “Ann…” He trailed off because of the determined, yet angry look on his wife’s face. He thought that the fury she felt was directed toward him because of his stubbornness on the matter, but maybe it was something more.

“You don’t know… you just don’t know…” the redhead muttered, shaking her head almost as if she was distressed. He did not allow himself to see what Kim went through when not being around Shego and Bonnie. Worse still, he did not know what a child was capable of doing because of a parent’s disapproval.

James was not sure what was wrong with Ann, but he instinctively tried to comfort her. He dropped his paper, casting it down like the useless garbage it was. He embraced her and held her to him, wrapping her up tightly. Ann was not sure if she wanted to just weep into his chest and plead with him to understand or if she wanted to push away from him and scream at him. She did neither, standing there as if nothing was happening.

“You really need to just get over yourself, James,” Ann whispered. “It’s Kim’s life and she should live it however she feels right. It’s not like she’s stupid or evil. Just trust her,” she stated soundly. 

“Ann…” James said again.

“You don’t know what this could do to Kim. Be grateful that she loves and respects us enough to have told us the truth and just accept that,” the neurosurgeon begged. 

James sighed and he was about to say something, but Ann suddenly latched onto him. She pled with him once more while gripping him with desperation. Her hold was so tight that it made him nervous, almost frightened. What did she know, he wondered. What had she witnessed to put her in such a state?

“I’ll try,” he promised in a low tone. 

“Do you mean it?” she asked to be certain.

“I do,” he said with conviction. He would do anything just to make Ann feel better and to make himself stop feeling frightened.

“Thank you,” she whispered in a very relieved tone. She thought his trying would not be good for just Kim, but also for him. He needed to try for their whole family. 

James only nodded and Ann released him. They stared at each other for a moment and then James stepped out into the living room. He looked at the rather enthusiastic group as they went back to suggesting all kinds of madcap things for the security system. He expected that from the boys, but he was surprised to see Shego just as into it as they were.

“Lasers solve everything,” Wade declared. 

“Yeah, and mirrors defeat lasers all the damn time,” Shego argued.

“She makes a point,” the twins agreed.

“You know a lot about mirrors defeating lasers, huh?” Wade teased Shego, undoubtedly referring to her years with Drakken.

“I also know a lot about plasma burning off eyebrows,” she replied. Before she could add a threat to her comment, the twins were up and running again with ideas. 

“Oh, pit of fire!” Jim exclaimed out of nowhere.

“Missiles!” Tim added in.

“Sounds like you’re all living in a comic book,” James remarked as he joined the group.

They all looked up at him from their spaces on the floor. The guys were happy for his presence, assuming he had come to help. Shego was not sure what to make of his presence, but when he sat down near his sons and started looking over the blueprints, she guessed everything was fine. James began to assist in mapping out the security system, but it was a long road ahead of him considering the people that he was working with, especially his sons.

For a moment, Shego considered talking with James, but she decided against it. She thought initiating a conversation with him about his problems would indicate she was in the wrong when she did not think that she was. He had to deal with his issues on his own and in his own way, like everyone else who knew about the relationship. She did not need to prove herself to him, especially since Kim was with her and Bonnie. They had Kim and he was the one that was going to have to work to bring her back into his life. So, Shego decided that James was not really any of her concern.

-8-8-8-8-

Construction on the building went by quickly while Kim and Shego got back into the groove of teaching their classes. They were both quite happy to be back. Kim’s classes seemed very glad and eager to learn something, even though they did voice some sadness in the fact that the Wegos were gone. Apparently, the kids thought the twins were fun, but they liked Kim just like before. If it was up to Kim, the Wegos would no go near her classes again. Gladiator matches, really?

Shego was a bit apprehensive around her class at first because she thought all of the new faces were there thanks to her mother. She knew how people fell over themselves to learn from the great Isabel Go. Once she found out that was not the case, she easily slid back into her role as teacher, loving every second of it, especially since the students responded to her in the same away as always. The old students she had from before the vacation were just like she remembered. They were smart-asses, which only made her more comfortable with things. 

Bonnie started things at her new firm and found herself disliking her job, even though what she expected happened. She had to do grunt work for the most part. They treated her as if she was fresh out of law school and she knew it was because they were forced to hire her. It was not pleasing, but she was willing to bear through it. She still thought that it was the best gift that Shego had ever given her. She did not even have time to be bitter over that since she was seeing to their new home going up. She was quite pleased with things as far as the building went when it was done.

The trio spent the first night in their new home as soon as they possibly could. There was nothing on the top floor, just hardwood floors and walls. They just brought a few blankets to camp out on the floor. They all laid down together, cuddled up together, and were about to drift off to sleep when they heard a noise.

“Oh, test for the security system!” Shego squealed with delight as she got up and ran to the window to see what was going on. Kim and Bonnie followed her while deciding against saying anything about the voice that just escaped her.

They looked down to see a few people actually scouting the building. Judging from the cameras, they guessed that the folks were reporters, looking to get some more dirt on them. It seemed the story had not blown over as much as they hoped or the reporters were trying to stir up some more trouble. 

“Watch when they go into the alley by the side of the building,” Shego said to her girls the people below them went right where she wanted them to go. 

The snoopers wandered into the alley, tripping a laser trigger. The ladies watched as the invaders were all trapped in tight, sticky wires like spider-webs. Shego laughed as soon as the trap sprung and it took a moment for her lovers to join in.

“That was priceless,” Bonnie commented. 

“The best thing is they’ll be stuck there all night… well, if I’m nice about things,” Shego remarked with a devilish smirk.

“Good job on the security system,” Kim congratulated Shego, putting her arm around the pale woman.

“You should see what happens if they try the door,” Shego said with a laugh.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: the trio has a housewarming party.


	12. Molten Core

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. I don’t own House of the Dead.
> 
> This one goes out to Zaratan, who was wondering when a certain best friend was going to make his appearance.

12: Molten Core

“I can’t believe I agreed to this,” Shego groaned as if she was in serious pain. She sat on the sofa with her girlfriends. They were all in house clothes, which consisted of tank tops and shorts. The colors were just different.

“Why are you always so grumpy? Damn, be happy for once in your life,” Bonnie replied, having to pull the back of a pen out of her mouth to say that. 

Shego snorted and flipped her hair. “I’d be happy if we weren’t doing this.”

“We’re doing this, okay? So, shut up and help,” Bonnie ordered.

Shego frowned and snorted again. “Fine, what do we have again?”

Bonnie looked down at the legal pad in her hands, full of notes. “So far, we’ve got it planned out to where it might cost about five hundred dollars. We’ve got a list of food, but that’s about it. Should we have music or something? Games?”

“People can bring their own games. This isn’t a ‘party’ party, so I don’t see why we need music,” Shego replied.

“Baby, what about you? I mean, this was pretty much your idea, so you want music?” Bonnie asked, turning to look at Kim, who sat directly behind her. The redhead was halfway lying on Shego.

“I guess we can just play some background music. This is really just a get-together, like a little gathering. I want to show everyone we’re all right and everything’s normal, even though we still have some reporters trying to sneak into the house,” Kim explained with a slight shrug.

“That’s one of the best things about this place,” Shego remarked with an amused smile.

They all got a kick out of watching what happened to reporters as they sneaked about the building. The security system was not only effective, but funny to see in action. They felt like the snooping reporters deserved what they got when they tried to break in or just slink around the building. Sometimes, they ended up getting trapped somewhere for the night or sometimes they actually got away with minor injuries, like very bad electric shocks.

Thinking about the reporters, Shego thought about the little busybody who broke the news of their relationship… sort of anyway. The details had been rather wrong in making it seem like Kim had to pick between Shego and Bonnie instead of being with both of them. Of course, none of that mattered to the gossip-hungry vultures that stalked them day in and day out now.

Shego had checked on little Tina recently and she had to admit she and her mother probably were going to Hell for what they did to that woman. Well, if they were not going to Hell for most of the other things they did in their lives. Tina was living in a one-room apartment with several species of vermin. Hell, she could probably open her own petting zoo if anyone was every interested in petting roaches or rats. She could not get a job doing anything that did not involve saying “do you want fries with that?” or cleaning up sludge. And anyone who tried to help her felt the sting until they wised up.

Shego made a mental note to tighten the screws on Tina, probably get her tossed out her little filthy apartment. Hey, the former reporter needed to learn to stay out of other people’s business. Or at least learn not to test certain people.

“Okay, so do you want to go over who’s coming over, so none of us get ambushed or anything?” Bonnie proposed.

“Good idea,” Shego said and Kim nodded.

The last thing they wanted to go through was another “Possible incident,” which was the safe way of thinking of when Kim’s parents found out about their relationship and everything that came with that. So, they needed to know who was going to come to their little get-together to prepare mentally for things. They might even need to prepare arguments in case anyone wanted to get on a high horse. Of course, Shego would rather they just throw out anyone who dared to get on a high horse, but she was not sure how people outside of her own family would take that. She did not want to upset her girlfriends, after all.

“Well everything should be fine. I mean, everyone I asked to come over, I already talked on the phone with them for a long time, so they’re not going to be surprised when they come in here,” Kim explained.

“Well, I didn’t invite anyone,” Shego commented.

“Me neither, but sweetheart, we took the time to invite your mom, dad, and the twins,” Bonnie informed the eldest.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, tell me you’re fucking kidding,” Shego requested with a shocked expression on her face. She had to sit up and gawk at her ladies with her jade eyes wide and her mouth slightly gaped, making her look like a fish.

“Nope,” Kim answered while shaking her head.

“Why do you two keep trying to surprise me and make me closer to my family!” the former thief whined while making two frustrated fists, closing her eyes, and clenching her teeth.

“That would be her,” Bonnie confessed, ratting Kim out by pointing at her with her thumb.

“You two need to stop acting like you’re not parts of your family. You especially,” the redhead countered, pointing at Shego.

“Why? I fucking _hate_ my family!” the ex-villain complained, casting her hands to the ceiling, as if she was trying to call down the fury of the heavens on Kim for inviting her family to their little gathering.

“Even your daddy?” Bonnie inquired, a teasing smile tugging at her lips. She could not pass that one up and she was sure she could not be countered with anything.

Shego frowned and Bonnie found out that she was quite right. Shego did not have a comeback for her. The eldest of the trio huffed and folded her arms across her chest. She was done with those two for now. They could plan their own stupid party.

“You didn’t invite any of my family, did you, baby?” Bonnie asked curiously.

“Well, I’ve been trying to call Johnnie, but he’s not answering his cell phone for whatever reason. I figured maybe you’d want to explain things to him or at least let him see you’re all right,” Kim answered, moving to rest her chin on the brunette in front of her.

Bonnie nodded and shrugged slightly. She did not care one way or another if Johnnie showed up or not. Despite the fact that he got along with Kim and was civilized now, he used to terrorize her just like their older siblings when they were younger. There was a pecking order in their family that even he followed. She still needed to warm up to him by overcoming childhood scarring from him, so she was not looking to share anything too deep from her life with Johnnie.

“You guys didn’t invite my other brothers, did you?” Shego inquired as she thought about the people who were going to show up for their shindig.

“I couldn’t get in touch with them. Your mother might bring them, though,” Kim answered.

Shego growled and rolled her eyes. The last thing she wanted to do was put up with Hego’s self-righteous bullshit. She remembered all of the crap that he put her through back when she let her family know that she was a lesbian. Not to mention how he treated her basically from their teenager years on. She was surprised that the whole house did not smell from the shit that he was slinging back then. _Jackass_.

“Calm down, sweetheart, geez,” Bonnie said, patting Shego’s bare calf since her toned leg was by Bonnie’s arm.

Shego waved Bonnie off and turned her attention from the younger pair again. Bonnie and Kim went back to trying to figure out what they were going to need for the gathering. They hoped that everything went smoothly, even though Shego’s attitude made it seem like it was going to go horribly.

-*-(New day)-*-

“I don’t see why we have to make all this shit for relatives and shit,” Shego griped, throwing her hands in the air just to be annoying. It worked.

“You’re just going to bitch about this until it’s over, huh?” Bonnie inquired in a bitchy tone of her own. They were in their kitchen.

The area was quite large at the end of their apartment and cut off from the rest of the place by a black countertop acting as border. The kitchen was decorated mostly in black, the refrigerator and stove were black, sort like obsidian. A microwave of the same color hung over the stove. Cupboards, which lined two walls, were a cream color to offset the dark colors. There was an island with the black top and cream cabinets below it. There were shelves on the one wall that had no cabinets, which were also black. The farmhouse sink was located in the corner opposite the opening of the kitchen and was also a cream color with a gooseneck faucet. The countertop that flanked the sink was black like the counter that was a border for the kitchen. Everything looked as new as it was.

“If I say yes, will it get you to stop bitching back at me?” Shego retorted, folding her arms across her chest and leaning her back against the stove.

“Does it ever?” Bonnie countered with a craned eyebrow.

Shego snorted and turned her nose up at the lawyer. “Should I go out there and help her?” she wondered aloud to change the subject.

“We’ve all got to pull our weight, sweetie. Now, it’s cute that you want to help her and all, but you know how she’s starting to get,” Bonnie replied with a dismissive wave of her hand.

Shego let out an aggravated sigh. She watched as Kim came into the apartment for the third time in the past minute. The redhead was bringing in grocery bags, some of them appearing rather heavy. Kim was not complaining about it in the slightest and Shego was trying to use going to help as an excuse to not hear Bonnie go on about her having an attitude.

Kim started trotting bags over to her lovers once she had them all in the place. She left them on the kitchen counter. Shego and Bonnie then went to work, going into the bags. Kim had been in charge of the shopping and her girlfriends were in charge of the cooking. It was the morning, which might help explain Shego’s mood since she wanted to sleep late, and they had until sometime in the afternoon to finish everything. People were supposed to arriving at about three in the afternoon.

While Shego and Bonnie took care of the cooking, Kim took care of everything else, mostly cleaning up in the living room since they lounged around there more often than not. They had made quite the mess in of the living room thanks to the past few days. They had been relaxing after finishing with furnishing and decorating the apartment. They were quite pleased with what they managed, even though they all had such different tastes, especially when it came to colors thanks to Shego and her undying devotion to green and black.

“So much bullshit for family,” Shego grumbled.

“Sweetness, if I’ve learned anything from being with Kimmie for all this time is that family are the ones you should do all this bullshit for,” Bonnie said.

“That only counts if you have good family,” the green-skinned woman replied.

“Well, Kim’s family is coming over and they’re mostly good. I mean, the tweebs have their moments, but they’ve got good hearts… or so I’m supposed to believe,” the lawyer remarked while glancing out of the kitchen at Kim, letting Shego know who tried to lead Bonnie to believe that underneath all of the crazy the Possible twins were good. 

“I can believe they ate people with good hearts,” Shego quipped with a half-smile, amused with her own statement.

“And then, there’s your family. I mean, I don’t know your brothers too well, but the twins seemed nice… like Jim and Tim nice,” Bonnie explained, looking away at the end of that statement.

Shego chuckled a bit. “Yeah, they’re pretty much like Jim and Tim, minus the genius, but with added super-powers, so the annoyance sorta balances out.”

“But, your parents are good people,” Bonnie stated with a solid note. She truly believed that statement.

Shego laughed again. “My parents are good people? My parents fucking nuts.”

“Babe, don’t kid around with me. We know you love your parents. I mean, to this day you call them ‘Mommy’ and ‘Daddy,’“ Bonnie pointed out. Those were loving, appreciative titles in her opinion.

“So the fuck what?” Shego countered. She had an alternative theory to why she called her mother “mommy,” but she would not share it. She would rather the fact that she called her mother “mommy” be love than the possibility that she called her mother “mommy” out of fear. She knew Isabel delighted in being dubbed and addressed as “mommy” by her and her brothers, so maybe they all called her that out of love to make her feel good.

“You don’t have to play the tough girl with us all the time, sweetheart. Geez, I thought you would’ve figured that out by now. You make it seem like you’re not comfortable around us with this bull act that you put on all the time.”

“Oh, look who’s talking about acts, little Miss Bitchy,” the pale martial artist retorted, as if that justified her behavior.

Bonnie smiled proudly. “Yes, I hold my title with pride out in the street and sometimes in here because someone has to keep you and Kim in line, but I’m not a bitch all the time with you two. You have to step out of your shell, babe. Just like how we try to get Kim to realize she doesn’t need to be able to everything, you need to realize you don’t always have to be on the defensive around us.”

Shego rolled her eyes, acting like she did not care about the advice, but she tucked it away in her mind. After all, she should be able to completely relax around her lovers, just like they should be able to completely relax around her. They did not need to prove anything to each other or act in a certain way. They should be able to be themselves. After all, that was the beauty of being in a loving, trusting relationship.

“Can I do anything?” Kim asked, taking a seat at the counter. She smiled at the chefs, even though they were more focused on their tasks than on her.

“Weren’t you cleaning the place up?” Shego countered without facing the hero. She was seasoning some chicken cutlets.

“I finished,” Kim answered with a small, almost impish smile.

“So, why don’t you go put on a better outfit on?” Shego suggested as she glanced over at Kim. The redhead was not wearing house clothes since she had gone out shopping earlier, but her clothing was sort of “bum-wear.” It was clear she had thrown her gear on because she was not going anywhere special.

Kim shrugged and she trotted off to go change her clothing. The cooking pair continued on, but they were interrupted again when their redheaded girlfriend showed up. She parked herself at the counter again and offered her services.

“Baby, why can’t you just sit there and be still for a minute?” Bonnie inquired, more curious than annoyed. 

“I had coffee this morning,” Kim answered with a smile.

“You better be joking, Possible,” Bonnie said seriously while turning away from some cake batter she was engaged with to look at Kim. The hero was still smiling.

Bonnie frowned; Kim did not drink coffee. Kim was not allowed to drink coffee when Bonnie was around. It had to do with the fact that the naturally energetic redhead began to seem like a meth addict fresh off of a hit when she had too much caffeine in her system. She had a habit of literally bouncing off of the walls if she had coffee and sometimes when she was like that she made it hard on Bonnie to remember that she loved Kim.

“Of course I’m joking,” Kim replied with a laugh.

“You’d better be,” Bonnie said again. She could tell Kim was being truthful with her, too, because the hero was not moving a mile-a-minute.

“I’m just bored,” Kim explained with a sigh and a shrug.

“Go watch TV,” Shego said in a dismissive tone, still keeping an eye on her task rather than turning to look at the hero.

“I don’t want to watch TV by myself. No one to cuddle,” the hero mumbled that last part. She pouted and rested her chin on the cool countertop.

“Fine, fine, fine. You can make the salad, baby,” Bonnie informed Kim. It was pretty hard to ruin a salad, after all.

Kim smiled again and hopped off of the chair that was situated at the counter. She went into the kitchen and got into her task. The three ladies worked through the morning. Before any guests arrived, Bonnie and Shego managed to fit in a wardrobe change. They all looked presentable for the outside world by then.

At the expected time, there was a knock at the door. They all assumed that was Kim’s parents because they doubted anyone else would show up right on time like that. They were quite right about that.

“Hey, Mom, Dad,” Kim greeted them while motioning to the inside of the apartment.

The doctors Possible stepped out of the hallway and into the large apartment. Kim looked around outside of the door for a moment, as if she was expecting more people than just her parents, but she did not see anyone else. She shut the door and turned her attention back to her parents.

“You guys have done a great job with this place,” Ann commented with a smile as she looked around the dwelling.

“Thanks. We’re still fixing it up, but we’ve got the main rooms done. So, can I take your jackets?” Kim offered. They had a lot of space in the apartment since it was the whole top floor of the building. They got their main living spaces done, but the rest of the place was still rather bare.

“Thanks,” her mother replied.

The doctors shrugged out of the jackets and handed them over to Kim. The hero looked at her father for a moment, hoping he would at least greet her. She even smiled a very polite “hi” his way and he did not respond. She guessed he still was not talking to her. When the trio lived in the Possible home, James had not done much talking to any of them. He surprising said the least to Kim out of all three of them.

 _I don’t understand_. Kim knew her father was a man with many quirks, but this one stung the most. His quirks had never made him treat her differently. She hoped that if she acted normal and let him know she still loved him, then maybe he would still love her and eventually act normally with her again.

“Can I get something for you, Mister and Missus Possible?” Bonnie inquired politely as she came in from the left while Kim walked off with the jackets.

Ann laughed a bit and shook her head in a disapproving manner. “Bonnie, I told you you don’t have to address us so formally,” she sort of scolded the lawyer.

“I’m sorry. My brain kind of comes and goes lately with all the work we still need to do on the apartment and everything,” Bonnie explained her little mind-slip away. She actually remembered she could was allotted the privilege of calling the Possibles by their first names, but ever since their reaction to the trio’s relationship, she had been being more formal with them, as if trying to keep them at a distance. It would make things easier should they ever decide to push her away.

“It’s all right,” Ann assured the younger woman with a warm smile. The neurosurgeon noticed Bonnie did seem to be drifting away from them, which she did not like. They had welcomed Bonnie as family before they even knew she and Kim were in love and she wanted Bonnie to continue to see herself as a member of the family. They had made a mistake and instead of letting it fester, she was trying to mend the wound she and her husband caused.

“So, can I get you two anything?” Bonnie offered again.

“No, we’re fine for now,” the brain surgeon answered.

“All right, well, there’s food in the kitchen if you want anything. There are drinks there, too. If you want to listen to some music or watch some TV, everything’s over there in the living room.” Bonnie motioned to the monster-size room ahead of them.

The Possibles nodded and Bonnie took her leave, going back into the kitchen. James and Ann continued their little visual tour of the place, looking around as best they could without seeming too nosy. They looked off to the right and saw there were closed off rooms that way. There was a setup in the corner that appeared to be like an office. It was arranged on a platform, three steps leading up to the place. There was a bookshelf on the wall that was not quite full yet, but they noticed a box next to the shelf that they could see had some books in it. There was a computer on a black desk with a window to the side to let some natural sunlight shine on whoever might be stuck at the computer.

The couple went into the living room, which gave them a chance to see a den-like area right next to it, which was actually a game room. The game room was cut off from the living room by a half-wall, but they could see into the other room easily. Shego was in the game room beating up on a pinball machine from what the doctors could tell.

“Oh, come on, you piece of shit!” Shego grunted as she hit the buttons on the side of the machine.

“They certainly have a lot of stuff,” Ann noted, looking around the living room.

They had a wall-mounted television. There was a DVD player sitting underneath the television on a glass stand. Under the player was a game console, which surprised the doctors. They were not sure which of the girls played games; it was Bonnie, which they would have found even more unbelievable. The stand and television was flanked by a high platform, which contained DVDs, CDs, and video games. They were set up in alphabetical order, which the doctors correctly guessed was their daughter’s doing. There were some small speakers around the room for the best sound from the entertainment center.

The living room was painted a very homey, warm light cerulean blue. The sofa was leather and cut the room in half because it was a long, curved couch. At the cut off end of the room, there were boxes, showing the trio was not done unpacking everything. There was track lighting overhead, so there was no need for a lamp.

“How can they even afford all of this?” Ann wondered aloud. She hoped the trio had not put themselves into debt just to move out of the house. 

“Shego probably stole it,” James grumbled.

“Dear, you promised to behave. Give them a chance. You know they’re all good and you’ve been all right with dealing with Shego on a one-on-one level. Just calm down and enjoy yourself,” Ann urged him.

James nodded. He was going to try. He had promised himself before they left the house he would try to be normal with the trio. It was not working so far and he was well aware of that. It was hard to be normal when he knew his Kimmie-cub was sleeping with two women as if that was proper. He had been trying his best to use Ann’s reasoning – who Kimmie went to bed with did not change who she was as a person, especially since she was with two consenting adults. From what he could tell, she was perfectly right. Kimmie was the same and his love for her had not changed, but he just could not act normal in front of her yet. Some part of him seemed to believe she had changed and now she was out of his reach. He feared he might never catch up to his daughter and the worst part of that was being completely aware it was his own fault.

“I’ll do my best,” James promised Ann.

“That’s all I ask,” she replied with a small smile.

Before the Possibles got to wander the apartment anymore, their sons arrived. They knew Jim and Tim arrived from the loud cry of “hoo-sha” when the boys stepped into the place and saw how nice it was. Kim greeted the boys at the door and saw they had a special guest with them.

“Hey, Nana, glad you could make it,” Kim said as she leaned down to hug her grandmother. She had not been sure if her grandmother would make it or not, so it was quite the pleasant surprise to see the senior citizen.

“I couldn’t miss this. I need to know what all this fuss is about and why reporters keep wanting me to put my foot up their butts,” Nana answered with an amused smile as she returned the embrace.

“I pity the reporters that try to mess with you,” Kim chuckled.

“You really need to,” Nana boasted quite proudly, putting her chin up a little. “Now, you’re going to explain this whole mess to me in person, right, Kimberly Ann?”

Kim laughed nervously. “Um… sure thing, Nana. Let me just put the jackets away and stuff.”

The redhead took her brothers’ jackets as well her nana’s jacket and went to hang those up. As soon as she was gone, Bonnie came over to offer everyone food or drinks. They declined and she told the twins there were some of the latest video games in the living room if they wanted to see them. Jim and Tim charged off and Bonnie was left alone with their grandmother.

“Hey, Nana,” Bonnie greeted the senior citizen with a warm smile.

“It’s good to see you again, Bonnie dear,” Nana said sincerely, reaching out to hug Bonnie. The lawyer wasted no time returning the embrace. “Is my wild granddaughter treating you right?”

“Always,” Bonnie answered honestly with a smile as they pulled away from each other.

“That’s good. If she ever stops, you make sure you tell me, so I can put her in line again. You’re going to help her explain this whole thing to me, right?” Nana asked.

“Of course, ma’am. Let me get Shego, too, so you can meet her and we can all go through this one step at a time,” Bonnie replied.

Nana nodded in agreement. “All right.”

Bonnie walked off to go get her green-skinned lover, who she would have sworn was raised in a barn from the manners she showed toward their guests. She went into the game room, which was where Jim and Tim had ended up despite the fact that Bonnie had directed them to the living room. Jim and Tim were marveling over the air hockey table at the end of the room while Shego was still beating up the pinball machine.

“Sweetheart, you’re going to break the thing before anyone else gets a chance to play,” Bonnie scolded Shego.

“I’m kicking this game’s ass,” Shego boasted as she kept her eyes on the ball and punched the buttons on the side pretty hard.

“You’ll have to do that later. You can’t keep playing games while we’ve got guests coming in. It’s rude,” Bonnie said.

Snorting, Shego rolled her eyes. She was well aware what she was doing was rude. Knowing something was rude had yet to stop her from doing something, but the stern look from Bonnie was doing a good job. She sighed and just walked away from the game, even though she had two balls left.

“Now, you’re going to meet Kim’s grandmother, so you need to be nice,” Bonnie explained as they started walking back toward the front of the apartment.

“If she’s nice, I’ll be good. If she’s a jackass, I’ll treat her as such,” Shego commented with a shrug. It seemed logical enough to her.

“Well, she’s really nice to me and I’m sure she’ll be the same for you if you’re nice to her. Besides, you need to be nice to her for Kimmie’s sake,” the attorney stated soundly.

Shego nodded, even though she did not like it. She could not risk being a jerk to any of Kim’s family because that could and probably would affect Kim. Okay, so she was going to be on her best behavior. 

The pair stepped over to Nana, who was with Kim now. The relatives were talking about nothing in particular and let the conversation drop as soon as Bonnie and Shego came over. The two Possibles turned their attention to Bonnie and Shego.

“Nana, this is Sheshona Go, but she prefers to be called Shego,” Kim introduced the pair.

Shego balked when Kim used her real name. The pale woman looked absolutely horror-stricken from hearing her birth name. Kim might as well have stabbed her in the stomach from the look on her face. Unlike most of the world, Shego only wanted people that she was close to use her given name and the rest of the world could use her nickname.

“Shego, this is my grandmother, Gwendolyn Possible,” Kim continued on.

“Nice to meet you, Missus Possible,” Shego said in a forced tone. She had been close to grumbling since she was sour over her name being used. She extended her hand since she was supposed to be being polite.

“Nice to meet you, too, dear, and please call me Gwen,” the senior replied while reaching out to shake Shego’s hand. “You look familiar. Have we met before?” she asked, studying Shego.

“Oh, boy, have we,” Shego muttered, looking away. Part of her hoped like Hell Kim’s grandmother did not remember. It was one thing to be involved in a plot to take over the world, it was another to a part of one of Drakken’s crazy schemes. Sure, she had not minded at the time, but she hoped soon people would stop associating her with the mad scientist.

“It’s a long story, Nana. We’ll tell you the whole thing,” Kim promised. She had already spoken to her grandmother plenty of times over the phone about what was going on. She did that because she did not want another reaction like the one that she got from her parents and her grandmother actually seemed all right with the arrangement between her and her girlfriends, but she wanted to hear about it face to face.

The four of them went to the kitchen and sat down at the island, using the black stools that were there for those purposes. Gwen was silent while the trio explained their situation to her as best they could. She nodded every now and then, but did not show much expression throughout the whole thing. They went through why she thought Shego looked familiar, how Kim and Shego ended up together, and how Bonnie and Shego ended up together.

“That’s an amazing little tale there,” Gwen commented when it was all said and done. She sounded quite neutral about it all.

“Um… so, what do you think, Nana?” Kim asked with a nervous smile.

Little did the redhead and her girlfriends know, but the grandmother already knew they were anxious for her opinion. She had been speaking with Ann since the story broke in the media. She already knew Kim broke down before the media feeding-frenzy because of her parents’ reaction and she also knew Kim’s meltdown led to a breakdown for her girlfriends. Gwen was not looking add to any problems of the trio, especially since she could see they were doing much better now.

Gwen also had had time to rationalize the relationship to herself, even without the detailed explanation. It had thoroughly bothered her at first when she learned the truth about the ladies, even though she had led Kim to believe she was fine with it. After speaking with Kim and also with Ann over time, she was able to accept what was happening. But, she silently admitted that it was a little strange. It just made more sense now than before.

“I wish you three the best. I hope this works out for you and you stay together for the rest of your lives,” Gwen replied and she meant that. She was not sure how they would take it if they did break up. She would also hate to see Kim and Bonnie break apart because she thought they were a wonderful couple. They supported each other through everything and they were both good influences on each other, so she wanted them to stay together. And if they were going to stay together with Shego then that was fine by her. Maybe they would straighten Shego up like they did with each other.

“Thank you so much, Nana,” Kim said sincerely with a smile on her face. She bowed her head for a moment, overcome by emotion. Shego reached over and put an arm around the redhead. She pressed Kim into her side to help the hero get herself together.

The sight itself was sweet. Kim’s grandmother could already see Kim was good for Shego. So, maybe she would not have to worry about them.

“Don’t thank me, Kimberly. You three just be good to each other or I’ll be back here and you’re not going to like it,” Gwen remarked with a teasing smile, but she was serious.

The trio laughed a bit, not sure what else to do. It was nice to get that out of the way and find that they had support from Gwen. The more support they got from those around them, the more comfortable they felt in their situation. They felt like they were more likely to stay together if they got support from those around them.

By the time the trio were finished with their tale, there were more knocks at the door. Kim excused herself and went to go answer. Stepping inside were members of the Go family, Kane, Isabel, and their youngest offspring. Kim took their jackets and welcomed them into the apartment. As soon as she walked off, Bonnie was there, offering things and telling the twins about the games, figuring if they were anything like the tweebs that would be what interested them.

“Ah, we were more hoping you’d point us in the direction of all your lesbian porn,” Wes remarked and his double, Wen, nodded enthusiastically. And that sort of confirmed for her that they were just like the tweebs.

“And now you should be hoping I don’t punch you in the mouth for that,” Bonnie commented, earning a chuckle from Isabel.

“Just like sis,” Wen quipped with an amused half-smile that his twin wore as well. They decided to walk away while they had the chance and went to go check out the games. They did make mental notes to search for some lesbian porn when they got a chance because they knew there was some around there. After all, Shego used to have a huge porn stash when they all lived together at home.

“Can I get you two anything?” Bonnie asked Isabel and Kane.

“I’ll take a beer. Matter of fact, we’ll both take a beer,” Kane answered, motioning between himself and his wife.

“I don’t recall requesting that,” Isabel said, forcing out an attitude, even though she knew that would not get through to her mate.

“I’ll drink yours,” Kane replied with a grin.

Isabel sighed and shook her head while Bonnie had to go check and see if they had any beer. It was not on the list that she and Shego had sent Kim to the store with. She did not have to do much looking because as soon as she hit the kitchen, Shego was pulling out cold beers.

“Where the hell did you get these?” Bonnie asked curiously.

“I bought them a couple of days ago,” Shego answered with a shrug.

“Where were you hiding them? I didn’t see them in the fridge,” the tanned woman pointed out.

“I didn’t want you to see them. I didn’t feel like hearing your mouth about me taking up all the fridge space with a bunch of beer I know you would’ve sworn we weren’t going to drink,” Shego countered.

“Shut up,” Bonnie grumbled and grabbed two bottles from the pale woman.

Shego smirked and laughed, feeling good about herself for having gotten the better of Bonnie. The lawyer walked off to give Kane and Isabel their drinks. Kane was thwarted from drinking both beers when Isabel popped the top on hers to show that she would have it now that it was there.

“You’re in evil woman, Bella,” Kane remarked with a grin.

“You love me this way,” she countered.

Kane could not and did not argue that matter. He thanked Bonnie for the beer and walked off into the apartment while Isabel struck up a conversation with Bonnie. He looked into the game room to see his sons meeting the Possible twins and something told him that was not good thing, but he was all for bad things from Fate. He turned his attention into the living room to see the doctors Possible.

“Ah, it’s the lovely, lovely Ann,” Kane said shamelessly as he approached the neurosurgeon.

Ann laughed a bit. Kane opened his arms for a hug, which she kindly gave him. It was a little funny to see her tower over such a muscular man. Well, for some people it was funny anyway. James was not happy with the scene, especially since he did not know who Kane was. The pair was not even touching for more than a second, but that was still too long as far as the rocket scientist was concerned. As they pulled away, Kane took a sip from his drink.

“You’re a dear woman,” Kane remarked with a grin.

“You know that Isabel’s told me you’re a brazen little flirt,” Ann informed him.

“Damn, that heavenly creature is always cutting me off at the knees,” Kane joked and pretended to pout.

Ann chuckled a bit. She had spoken to Isabel a few times since meeting the woman. They tried to act as a support group for each other to get them through their daughters’ unconventional relationship. Every now and then, the topics drifted to other things, like their husbands. From that, she learned about Kane’s bad habit of flirting with almost any and everything. She also got the impression that Isabel loved Kane very much, but went out of her way to make it seem like she utterly hated him, which was just strange. It almost helped explain Shego, though.

Kane flopped down on the sofa, sitting near James. He glanced over and sort of did a double take, as if he had not noticed the rocket scientist until just now. He leaned over, extending one hand while making sure he held onto his beer with his other. James looked down at the tanned hand with some contempt.

“Hey, I’m Kane Go,” he introduced himself with a friendly smile on his face.

“James Possible,” the scientist muttered while weakly giving into Kane’s handshake. Since Kane never judged a man on his handshake, he did not think anything of the way that James shook his hand.

“Ah, you must be the lovely Ann’s husband. Lucky man you are,” Kane commented with a bit of a lecherous look in his purple eyes. 

“Yes, I am her husband,” James declared in a clear way that said “stay the hell away from her.” It earned him a huge grin from the shorter male.

“Lucky,” Kane cooed before taking a swig of his drink.

James curled his lip, looking rather disgusted with Kane. Kane did not take offense to look directed toward him. Now, he was no stranger to James, in a way anyway. Isabel had put in some complaints about the man and some of the things he said about their little Shona. The only reason Isabel had not done anything to the man yet was because she had respect for his wife and she adored his daughter.

“Yes, you’re definitely a lucky fellow,” Kane said with a nod while watching Ann walk out of the living room. His eyes drifted to her ass and a very naughty part of him thought he would do such bad things to that ass if only he was not so hopelessly in love with his wife. But, such was his lot in life. 

“Stop looking at my wife,” James growled like an angry dog.

“What? It’s harmless looking. When I get to grabbing is when you should be worried,” Kane teased. Of course, it would also when he would be dead, but James did not seem to know that.

When Kane was younger, he had the terrible habit of grabbing women. He never meant it in more than a playful way, but he understood that women did not like it, even if he was not looking to be totally perverse. Now, he knew if he grabbed a woman that was not his beloved, Isabel would be on him like an angry leopard on a midget gazelle.

“You’d better not touch my Ann,” James ordered, glaring at the auburn-haired male.

“I’ll think about it,” Kane replied with a slow shrug and a lazy look in his eyes.

“Listen you—” James pointed a finger at Kane and was about to give him the “Black hole” speech, but Kane did not let him get that far.

“Calm down, Jimbo,” Kane said, dismissing the scientist with a wave of his hand. “I’m not going to touch your wife… not while mines is around anyway.” He grinned. 

“Yours?” James echoed. He was too upset with Kane’s behavior toward Ann to even figure out why Kane was at the apartment in the first place.

“Yeah, mine. You see my wonderful, larger-than-life Bella,” Kane said in a dreamy voice while motioning out of the living room toward Isabel. His purple eyes seemed to shimmer as he gazed at his woman. From the look on his face, it would not have surprised the rocket scientist to see little hearts floating around Kane’s head.

“You’re married to her? Then you’re Shego’s father,” James realized.

“Yeah, that’s my little Shona,” Kane said proudly and he noticed a look in the scientist’s eyes that actually caused him to frown. “Don’t say anything bad about my little Shona or this is going to be the worst first meeting ever,” he promised with a dangerous glint in his eyes. No one talked about his kids. No one.

James pulled back a second, a bit shocked by the jovial male’s sudden seriousness. Just as abruptly as the seriousness took over, it was gone. A grin invaded Kane’s face and he sat further back into the sofa. He took a swig of beer and turned his attention back to the rocket scientist.

“I heard you’re not taking this thing too well,” Kane commented. 

“Excuse me?” James said with a craned eyebrow. 

“This thing, the three ladies being together in a relationship and everything,” Kane elaborated, motioning around them with his free hand.

James huffed, but he did not respond. He did not want to talk about it, especially with Shego’s father. Kane was not deterred by the cold shoulder. When he wanted to talk about something, he was generally hard to stop.

“I don’t see what the big deal is with them actually. I mean, when my Bella told me about it, she was kinda bent out of shape about it. I was okay with it after finding out it was what all three of them wanted and they were all happy with each other. What freaked you about it?” Kane asked, tilting his head a little like a curious puppy.

James was not forthcoming with Kane, but Kane was not looking to give up at the moment. He kept trying to talk to James, not just about the trio, but anything at all. He supposed he did not make the best first impression on James with hitting on his wife, but to Kane that was the past and they needed to move forward. Life was about going forward, after all, as long as he was not going forward too quickly.

While Kane was trying to bond with James, Isabel and Ann were getting along quite well with each other. They were not totally comfortable with each other since Ann was aware that Isabel had gotten off on the wrong foot with James, but things could only be taken one step at a time. They did believe that the more they spoke to each other, the better things would be for them.

“Are you helping them pay for this place?” Ann asked Isabel with some concern. They were in what seemed to be the dining room area. There was no table or chairs yet, though.

Isabel shook her head and then sipped her beer. “No, I’m not. God, Shego would have the world’s largest tantrum, and I don’t even just mean for a thirty-year-old. I mean, in general.”

Ann chuckled a little. “Are all of your children like that with you?”

Isabel smiled. “No. Shego’s always been a handful, but then again, I guess they all are in their own ways and they all throw tantrums in their own ways. Your kids seem stable.”

Ann laughed even more. “I’ll leave you to believe that. I’ve got one child who rushes into danger every second she can and two others who build danger right in our living room.”

“Touché. I suppose every child has their own little charms.” 

Ann nodded. “Yeah. I wouldn’t trade mine in for any others.”

“Same here. But, they can be annoying.” 

Ann could not help it, but she laughed once more. “That they can.” She glanced in the direction of Kim. “I do hope they made the right decision.” 

“Even if they didn’t, I’ve learned you have to let your kids make their own mistakes, especially when they’re adults. I’ve tried interfering with other things and it never works, but then again, my kids are crazy,” Isabel remarked.

“Ah, so that’s the issue. My kids are actually crazy, too,” Ann joked. Isabel laughed.

-8-8-8-8- 

The pair of twins got along pretty well in the game room right away. They were going wild over the latest “House of the Dead” arcade game, which was in the room. That was fine as far as the trio were concerned, as along as those wild boys did not break the game since it was the one video game they had the they all got a kick out of playing.

The trio hung out in the kitchen, anticipating the arrival of their other guests. Shego was now having a beer since she pulled them out. So far, they were pretty happy with the way things were going, but Kim still had a couple of obstacles ahead of her. She hoped everything went as well as it was going now.

After a few minutes, there was a knock at the door and Kim went to go answer. She was greeted by the presence of Wade and Monique. Wade had picked Monique up from the airport less than a half-hour ago since he lived the closest to the airport. 

“I’m glad you both could make it. Come on in,” Kim said with a grin, ushering them into the house with a sweep of her hand.

“No problem, Kim,” Wade replied.

Kim nodded and turned her focus to Monique. Wade walked off into the house, following the voices of Jim and Tim to the fun. The redhead took a deep breath and walked off with Monique to a private part of the place without going into a room. They went up into the office space.

“I’m glad you could make it, Mo,” Kim said with a nervous smile. She giggled a bit, sounding just as nervous as she looked. She did not know why she acting as she was since Monique had been caught up on what was going on thanks to phone calls over the past few days. 

“It’s no problem, girl. I was trying to come back earlier, but you were all on vacation,” Monique said, giving a little shrug.

Kim laughed a bit, still seeming to be uncomfortable. “It was kinda spur-of-the-moment.”

Monique shrugged. “I understand. You guys needed to get away from all the media hoopla and crap like that. I’m just hoping you’re okay. I mean, this is crazier than when you finally told me you were seeing Bonnie,” she remarked with a laugh of her own.

The redhead chuckled, too, sounding normal that time around. Monique had not been in favor of her relationship with Bonnie and, really, when she told Monique that she hooked up with Shego, it was like a repeat of back then. To her credit, though, Monique maintained her composure whenever Kim hit her with such bizarre relationship news.

“So, Kim, what’s going on here? I mean, what’s the dealie? When did this whole trio thing start?” Monique inquired. 

Kim then went into retelling the story for the second time that day. Monique stood there the whole time with an intense look on her face, taking the information. She folded her arms across her chest occasionally, only to let them drop to her sides again after a few seconds while listening to the tale. Kim was slightly animated as she told the story, moving her arms and hands as she presented the case. When she finished, she shrugged a little. 

“That is a wild story there. If I was Bonnie, I would’ve dumped your cheating ass,” Monique stated seriously as she folded her arms across her chest again. 

“I didn’t cheat,” Kim argued.

“You cheated emotionally. Now, Bonnie’s a bitch, but she didn’t deserve that kinda treatment. You’re lucky this turned out this way,” Monique said.

Kim nodded, conceding her friend had a point. She did not bother to defend herself since things were going so well so far. “So, you’re not tweaked about this?”

“Look, Kim, I’ve got to admit that I’ve had to put up with a lot of bizarre things from being your friend and this shit is high on the list, but the inner workings of your love life isn’t my business unless you ask me to make it my business. I’m flattered you told me about this. I know it had to be hard and I respect that. Now, as long as you don’t any freaky shit in front of my face, I’m fine with what you have going on as long as you’re happy with it,” Monique explained.

Monique’s biggest concern when she came back to Middleton was really just to make sure Kim was all right. The media acting like a swarm of locusts worried her and she wanted to make sure that her best friend was fine. The crazy trio relationship thing was really secondary in her mind, which was why she was taking it rather well. Not to mention, she had a long time to work through it since the first time Kim told her until now.

“So, everything’s okay?” Kim asked with a hopefully pathetic expression on her face. She pouted, but it was not the manipulative, patent-pending puppy-dog pout. It was a full-on, sorrowful, heartbreaking expression.

“Right on, girlfriend. Friends for life,” Monique assured her and gave her a loving hug.

Kim sighed because of the embrace and pulled Monique in tight. She was relieved Monique was able to tell her face to face that everything was all right. For Monique, seeing Kim made that pretty easy to do. She got a chance to see it was the same person she had seen a few months ago. She was all right with Kim as long as nothing too weird happened.

“Thanks for this, Mo,” Kim said with a smile.

“As you would say, no big. What are friends for, after all? They’re supposed to support you. Now, point me in the direction of some food. I haven’t eaten all day,” Monique declared with a smile of her own. 

Kim laughed and took Monique into the kitchen to have her run over the food, which was slowly but surely disappearing. Monique wasted no time making a plate for herself. She had not eaten anything since last night and her flight had been early in the morning. The food on the plane had not seemed very appetizing.

Monique sat down at the kitchen island to eat. Bonnie sat down next to her to talk about the latest clothes, which Monique was fine with. They were on friendly terms now, not they had ever had many problems with each other. In high school, Monique had not been in favor of how Bonnie treated Kim and Bonnie being an all-around bitch were really their only issues. They were large issues that they were over since Bonnie treated Kim much better now and was not snappy to everyone for no reason at all.

“I think I’m going to have to upgrade my wardrobe for my new job. The firm seems so much more upper crust than my other firm. It’ll be such a pain,” Bonnie said. She generally liked shopping, but she was not sure about their money situation just yet to feel secure in going out for a whole new wardrobe like she thought she would have to.

Monique shook her head. “From what I remember of your wardrobe, you should be fine. If not, you’ve got a good eye. I’d like a chance for us to go out again and put some things together.”

“Do you have time for that?” Bonnie asked. She would not mind a shopping trip with Monique. It was how they best got along and Monique had a good eye, which was to be expected for someone who worked in the fashion industry.

Opposite those two, Kim’s grandmother was grilling Shego. It did not surprise Shego, but she was a little annoyed. She hid it very well, except anyone who knew her well enough would have noticed how tense her jaw was. She was aware she had to press through the Spanish Inquisition because she needed to leave a decent impression on Gwen.

“So, you’ve gotten out of this dishonest ‘take over the world’ business, now what do you do to provide for my granddaughter and Bonnie?” Gwen asked with an arched eyebrow. Her stare was intense, almost reminding Shego of her own grandmother.

Shego had so many smartass remarks on the tip of her tongue. She bit them back and washed them down with a drink of her beer. It was her third one. A little while earlier Bonnie and Kim made sure that Shego ate something to keep the beer company to make sure she did not end up intoxicated. Of course, it would take a lot more than beer for that to happen. 

“Well, I’m sure Kimmie’s told you about the school we have, which is right downstairs. I teach there with her,” Shego answered modestly. She was not in the mood to tell an almost complete stranger about her financial situation.

Gwen nodded. “Now, you started out trying to steal Kim from Bonnie, didn’t you?” 

“And if I did?” Shego countered, obviously forgetting her manners. She did not think it was her fault since the old bat was getting rather personal with her, in her opinion anyway.

“At least you’re owning up to it,” the senior remarked with a little smirk. “Not that I would expect anything less from you.”

Shego shrugged. It did not seem like a big deal to her. There was something that she wanted, namely Kim, so she went after her. She was glad she did because not only did she get what she desired, but she was also able to pick up Bonnie. If she had it to do all over again, she would do it all the same.

“Look, granny, I get that all you Possibles are all overprotective and everything, but I’m with Kim and Bonnie and that’s that. If we’re going to crash and burn, then just let us do it. From what I can tell, though, we’re going to be all right as long as you guys don’t treat Kimmie any differently. I’ve got my end tied down and I’m sure my end’ll be secure through the toughest storms. I’ll handle those two as best I can and it’s just that simple,” Shego stated, hoping that would get through to Gwen and she would not have to worry about answering any more annoying questions.

Gwen nodded again. “You know, Shego, I respect the fact that you said all of that,” she said. There was a moment of silence before them and then the grandmother had a sudden question. “So, how much older are you to them?”

Shego sighed and dropped her head in defeat for a moment. It would seem she had not escaped any of the annoying questions with her little speech. She reminded herself she needed to make it through things for Kimmie. It was all for Kim. She pressed on in the conversation and was surprised at who saved her. 

“Excuse me, are you Gwen Possible?” Isabel inquired as she came over to her daughter and butted right in on discussion. Shego was almost ready to tell her mother she loved her dearly at that point for saving her from such a humiliating conversation.

“I am,” Gwen confirmed.

“It is an honor to meet you. I’ve heard quite a few tales,” Isabel said as if she was impressed.

Shego watched as her mother struck up a conversation with Gwen. At the right moment, the ex-sidekick slinked away from the counter. She noticed her mother give her a little wink as she left. Suddenly, that loving feeling that she was willing to acknowledge having for her mother was gone.

Shego looked around for something to do. The twins and the other twins were in the game room with Wade, so she did not want to go in there and have to deal with the madness they were likely to stir up. Her father was actually talking to Mister Possible. It did not surprise her. If her father wanted to talk then, damn it, he was going to talk. She hoped Kane was trying to talk sense into James.

The pale woman looked to see what her girlfriends were up to. Bonnie and Monique were talking about clothes. Kim was in and out of the conversation to check on the guests. Shego decided she would try to join in on that exchange. She jumped in and Bonnie backed her, which made her transition into the discussion almost seamless. Monique was a bit surprised by Shego’s sudden presence, but she did not have much time to show that because she had to tell Bonnie about a new style that was coming out.

The four ladies talked for a while before Kim went to answer a knock at the door. The other three women continued talking, knowing Kim would have no problem jumping back when she got a chance. The redhead answered the door and saw that her guest of honor showed up, Ron.

“Hey, K.P,” the young man greeted with her a wide, happy grin. He opened his arms for a hug, which she quickly gave him.

“I’m so glad you came, Ron,” Kim said in a low voice as she squeezed him tightly. It was as if she was scared that if she spoke any louder, he would vanish.

“I’m glad you invited me.” He held her close. 

Kim nodded and the friends released each other. It was then that Kim noticed Yori and they greeted each other with a warm hug. It was not as long as the hug she shared with Ron, but that was expected.

“I’m glad you made it, too,” Kim said to Yori.

“It’s my honor to be here,” Yori answered, rather predictably. Kim only smiled more. Yori would never change.

The redhead ushered the couple into the apartment, taking their jackets in the process. She pointed them in the direction of the food, game room, and television. Yori went for the kitchen while Ron stayed next to Kim. 

“So, Kim, is there some place we could like talk in private?” Ron asked.

“Yeah. Let me hang these up and then we’ll go up on the roof,” Kim replied, holding up the jackets a little as she spoke.

Ron nodded, standing there while Kim put the jackets up. When she came back, they retreated to the roof, which he got to see was a work-in-progress like almost everything about the building. They were trying to turn the roof into their own personal little relaxation habitat, but also a place they might feel like giving barbeques if Shego ever got used to having people over. 

“This is a decent view you guys have here,” Ron commented as they went to the edge of the roof. The building was only three stories high, so they would not see over any higher buildings, but luckily everything across the street from them were two-story buildings. They had a view of a few blocks before some taller buildings obscured the view.

“Yeah, that was one of the reasons we added the extra floor,” Kim replied. 

“I gotta say, the place looks a lot better in person than trying to figure out what it looks like in my head when you were telling me about it,” he remarked with his usual good-natured smile. “I’m glad you’re all doing okay.”

“Really?” Kim asked as if she could not believe it.

“Of course. I mean, it is uber-freaky that you’re dating Shego now and everything while dating Bonnie, which was just nuts in and of itself, but it’s working out for you and you’re happy, which is what matters to me. You know that,” he pointed out.

Kim nodded because she did know that. She thought Ron would be opposed to things if he thought she made a bad move, as he had a habit of doing; just like she had a habit of doing when it came to him. It was nice to know that he was all right with things because it made her feel like she had made a good decision.

Like everyone else, Ron had had a lot of time to think about what was going on. Sure, he had freaked the first time that he heard about it, mostly because he heard about it through the media like everyone else. It did not help that he read some of the most sensational papers that he could get his hands on and they either highly exaggerated things or just downright lied. 

“So, you’re okay with this?” Kim asked curiously.

“With your relationship? Yeah, I’m okay with it,” he answered. “I’m a little nervous about you being with Shego and all, but other than that, I’m okay.” 

Kim nodded. “Shego’s different.”

“Yeah, I’m sure she is if you’re with her and all, but I guess I just need to see it to be sure. But, again, I’m just happy you’re happy.” 

He had a long time to think about it and people to talk it over with, like Wade, Monique, and the tweebs. They had all taken time to call each other and try to rationalize things between themselves, especially for those couple of months that they could not get into contact with Kim. In that time and through those conversations, he had come to grips with the relationship, even though he still thought it was a bit weird. Kim was sleeping with women that once upon a time were her biggest enemies, after all.

Kim breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you.” 

“Hey, don’t thank me, K.P. I’m going to support you if you’re happy, like you did for me when I figured out I was in love with Yori. We’re here for each other,” Ron stated the obvious while motioning between them with one hand.

The redhead nodded again, smiling slightly. “Yeah, we are.”

“But, this is the thing I don’t get. I mean, if we’re always here for each other, even when we’re miles apart, why didn’t you tell me you were going out with Shego and Bonnie in the beginning? I mean, you trust me, right?” Ron asked with his mouth turned up a little.

Ron’s chocolate eyes showed he was hurt. It wounded him that his best friend, the woman he looked at as a sister, had withheld such important information from her. No matter what excuse he thought of, in his mind it did not justify Kim not telling him that she had fallen in love with Shego and also that she was in a relationship with both Bonnie and Shego.

“Well… I guess I just got scared, Ron. I mean, this isn’t really normal and while I don’t care that it’s not normal, I got really scared about what you’d think. I didn’t want you to think something was wrong with me or like I was a pervert or something. And then when my parents found out… Well, that just really scared the hell out of me. I thought you’d react that way, too, and you know I don’t want to lose you, so I thought it would be better if I didn’t tell you,” she explained, trying to look him in the eye throughout the whole thing, but she occasionally glanced away.

“Kim, it’s never better for you to not tell me. Just like it’s never better for me not to tell you. We went through this already before… a couple of times,” he pointed out, shaking his head. 

Kim put up a half-smile more out of awkwardness than anything else. “Third time’s a charm,” she remarked with a shrug.

He gave her a stern look. “Let’s hope third times the last.” 

“Well, unless you’re going to pick up another girlfriend,” the redhead joked.

“I think the three between the two of us is enough. Unless, of course, I want Yori to kill me later on,” he remarked. 

“That wouldn’t be good.”

“What about you? This could always happen again if you get another girlfriend,” he commented.

“No, I think the two I have is enough. Besides, even if we did pick up another one, I doubt it would be as weird now,” she countered. She doubted they were going to be adding to their trio anyway. It would like other people adding to their couple.

Ron shrugged; he could not argue that one. He truly hoped they were done with keeping secrets from each other out of fear of the other’s reaction. Kim had done it for a while when she started dating Bonnie because she got nervous as to who Ron might react to find out that she was a lesbian. And Ron had done it before that when he figured out that he was in love with Yori because he had been dating Kim at the time that the revelation struck him with the same impact as a speeding train. That epiphany probably had something to do with the fact that he saw a lot more of Yori because she wanted to see his baby sister. 

“I wanted to tell you, me and Yori are gonna move back to Middleton,” Ron informed his best friend.

“Really? Totally spanking!” Kim grinned with delight. She grabbed him into a hug, which he returned with a laugh.

“Yeah, I got a job at a restaurant. Yori’s gonna start looking for work, but we’re coming back here to be close to Hana… and well, so I can see you more often,” he admitted with a bit of a shy smile.

“That’s great. That’s really good. Hey, if Yori needs a job, she might be able to work with me and Shego at the school. We’ve got a lot students now, so it might be a good idea to have another teacher and some of the students have been asking about learning ‘ninja stuff.’ Shego was trying to teach them, but she doesn’t have much time because of her other students,” Kim explained. 

“You think Shego’ll go for that?” Ron asked with a doubtful expression on his face.

“I’m sure she’ll go for anything that doesn’t involve her mother sticking around to try to help.” 

“Shego’s got a mother?” Ron inquired with wide eyes. He supposed that it made sense, but it never crossed his mind.

Kim laughed. “Mother and father.”

“A mother and a father? Like human parents?” he asked, quite seriously. 

Laughing more, Kim nodded. “They’re both downstairs. They’re very nice people. I bet Kane would love you.”

“This I have to see,” Ron said.

Kim chuckled and they went back to the gathering. She introduced Ron and Yori to Shego’s parents. They were stunned to find out that Yori knew who Isabel was… enough to faint when she met the middle-aged martial artist. Luckily enough, Ron caught his girlfriend before she hit the floor.

“As always, Bella, your fame precedes you,” Kane chuckled, staring at the poor, passed-out Yori.

“And here it is I thought your martial arts were actually just movie magic,” Shego remarked, speaking to her mother.

“Hey, I’m a legend if you whisper in the right circles,” Isabel boasted with a proud smile. Of course, Shego knew that, but just wanted to be annoying. 

“I don’t get it. What do you do?” Ron asked curiously while situating Yori safely in a chair that was in the unused dining area. It was an office chair, though. He could only wonder where it went since the office had a chair already. He began fanning his girlfriend with the hope that it would wake her up.

“What do I do?” Isabel echoed with a frown as if she was insulted. “I break people in half,” she declared. 

“All the time!” the Wegos chimed in, still in the game room.

“She’s quite efficient,” Kane added.

Ron did not understand what they meant and did not ask for more information. Once he was certain Yori was all right, he went to go check out the game room. Yori made herself busy by working up the courage to talk to Isabel. Isabel was flattered by the attention, but she worked on calming Yori down. Despite the fact that Yori had grown up on a secluded mountaintop, she knew about plenty of famous/infamous martial artists in the world.

With all of the guests there and everything seeming kind of fine, everyone mingled and had a good time. The food was devoured, the beers disappeared, and everyone seemed to be happy. The trio was pleased with that, Kim especially.

As the night pressed on, guests began to leave. Isabel and Kane practically had to drag their twins out of the game room and they were not the only ones. The doctors Possible had to do the same thing. Both sets of twins would have stayed in the game room all night if they would have, egging each other on in every game by belittling and insulting each other. The hosts were at the door with everyone’s jackets as they started filing out of the apartment.

“Thanks for inviting us, duckies,” Isabel said with a smile as she hugged each of the hosts and kissed them all on the cheek.

“Duckies?” Shego echoed. What the hell was wrong with her mother?

“Thanks for having beer,” Kane remarked with his usual grin. He was not drunk in the slightest, even though he had downed much of the alcohol that was there. He burned it off much faster than most people, though.

“No problem, Daddy,” Shego said, holding in a smile. Kane hugged her and her girlfriends while assuring them he had a great time, which Shego could not understand since her father spent most of his time talking to Kim’s father. 

Isabel and Kane collected their jackets and their sons’ jackets. They then dragged the Wegos out of the place. The twins begged to be released, so that they could go back to kicking the tweebs asses in video games. Their pleas were ignored.

“Just one more game!” they both cried, but their parents tossed them into the elevator to go downstairs. 

The Possible clan was the next to take their leave. The hosts were not surprised to get hugs from Ann or Gwen as they were leaving. The shock of the night came from James leaning down and embracing Kim.

“I had a good time, Kimmie-cub. You be good, okay?” James said.

“Um… sure, Dad,” Kim replied in a low, almost confused tone. It was like she did not understand what was going on. It was nice he was talking to her, though.

“You two take good care of Kim. Keep her out of trouble,” James said to Shego and Bonnie. He stunned them by reaching out and shaking their hands. They were so shocked that they could not even move. After all, a man who could hardly look at them before was now shaking their hands in a friendly, almost trusting manner while telling them to take care of his daughter. 

Ann and Gwen smiled softly to themselves while the twins actually cheered. They were glad to see their father opening his heart and his mind to Kim’s choices. They all knew it would do Kim good and give her the boost in life that she needed. James was well aware of what his approval would do and he was happy to just be able to keep his daughter. At least she was happy, he told himself.

“That was great, dear,” Ann said, kissing James on the cheek as they waited for the elevator.

“Yeah, Dad.” The twins both clapped him on the back. He stood up a little taller, even though he knew he had a long way to go. He still felt like the trio was just wrong, after all. 

After the Possibles departed, Wade figured he needed to get home. He also needed to get Monique home. _At least she’s on my way_ , he thought while letting out a yawn. He would have a sore throat in the morning, he realized. He had done a lot of yelling with those twins over the games, but at least he had a lot of fun while doing it.

“Gimme a ring tomorrow, we’ll do some shopping,” Monique informed the trio as she and Wade stepped to the door.

“We’ll see,” Bonnie answered. She was not too sure if it was prudent of them to go on a shopping spree at the moment. After all, the only thing really keeping them afloat was the fact that Shego was filthy, stinking rich. They should probably work out a budget or something first. 

“It’ll be a blast. Lemme know what you wanna do. I should be around for a while,” Monique told them.

“Cool,” Kim said. 

They all bid Monique and Wade farewell. Last but not least, Ron and Yori made their way out of the apartment. Kim handed over their jackets and gave a hug to both of them.

“Call me later and we’ll hang out,” Kim told Ron. 

“Definitely. Call me about that other thing, too,” Ron replied. “The other thing” was Kim throwing the idea out there that Yori teach at the school. He did not want to say it point blank because he did not think Shego would agree with the idea coming from him.

“Oh, I definitely will. Thanks again for being so understanding,” Kim said.

Ron scoffed, showing it was no big deal. Sure, it was bizarre and everything, but he had lived through stranger things with Kim, like when she got turned into a monkey. Hell, her having two girlfriends was definitely better than her being a monkey.

Ron and Yori left after that. The trio sighed since they were the only ones left in the house. Now, they had cleaning to do, which was the one horrible thing about having people over. But, at least they got the desired effect. Everyone who mattered was quite comfortable with their relationship, or at least they were on their way to being comfortable with things.

“Hey, Shego, what do you think if we add another teacher to the school?” Kim asked while she was doing the dishes.

“Like? Not the buffoon,” Shego replied as she wiped down the counters.

“Don’t call Ron that, love. I was thinking Yori. She’s a master at ninjutsu and Tai Shing Pek Kwar. Gives us a little more variety,” the redhead pointed out. 

“And it gets your class size down,” Bonnie chimed in. She was scrubbing the stovetop.

“I can handle my class size,” Shego argued.

“You can’t get to everyone that needs help and plus, you’ve been spreading yourself kinda thin with trying to show students ninjutsu and everything,” Kim countered. 

“You’re not preaching to me about spreading myself thin,” Shego mildly snapped.

Kim laughed a bit. “Okay, okay, okay. Let’s forget I said that. Just think about it for a little while.”

Shego shrugged, but she did nod. She would think about it, but not right now. She just wanted to get the place clean and relax with her ladies. It took over an hour for them to clean the whole place up. Once they did, they all silently made their way to the living room. 

“So, what now?” Kim asked. They settled on the sofa, lying on each other as they usually did.

“Let’s go take a bath and then go to bed,” Shego suggested.

“I’m all for that,” Bonnie concurred.

It took them a few minutes to get off of the couch, but they made it up and went to the bathroom. Their bathroom was large and decorated in pastel colors of white and a very light green. There was a large, garden bathtub at the back of the room. It was clearly big enough to fit all three of them without a problem.

There was a separate shower that was setup next to the tub. It was also large enough to fit all three of them with five showerheads, making a semi-circle around the shower. There was a long countertop and all kinds of beauty supplies lined up on it that came from having three women who cared about how they looked living under the same roof. A long mirror ran above the counter and there were three sinks, just in case.

The trio took a quick shower before hopping into a hot bath together. They did not do anything aside from lounge in the water, which was complete with bubbles and other bath products. Kim and Bonnie were cuddled against Shego, who had her arms around both of her loves. They stayed like that quietly for about thirty minutes and then they went to the bedroom to go to sleep.

As expected, their bedroom was huge, too. It was made to comfortably accommodate all three of them and whatever they might want to keep in the room. The bed was custom made, larger than a king-size bed. It was like that for their more active nights, but when they were sleeping, they did not take up very much of the bed. They did not do anything that night.

They put on some pajamas and crawled into the bed. They curled up together with Shego resting against Kim’s back. At first, Kim was pressed against Bonnie’s back, but she turned around. Bonnie tucked her head underneath Kim’s chin while Shego reached over and put her hands around both Kim and Bonnie. Kim buried her head in Bonnie’s hair. They all fell asleep within minutes with hopes that things would finally get back to normal and that everything would be all right. 

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: the trio runs into some problems in the form of work, a cat, and the past. 


	13. Bridge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters.
> 
> Thanks SaphireRaven for the idea that appears in this chapter. This chapter also goes out to those that wanted to see the return of a certain OC. Can’t tell you which one as it is a surprise.
> 
> A/N: there’s some sexual activity between women in this chapter, so if that bothers you, consider yourself warned. Thank you.

13: Bridge

Bonnie sighed in relief as she finally made it home. She stepped inside and leaned against the door for a moment. Another long breath escaped her as her shoulders dropped and she let her briefcase do the same. A small thud echoed through the apartment when the leather case hit the floor. Having the home atmosphere just warmly embrace her did wonders for easing out the tension that she felt.

“Hey, baby,” Kim greeted her with a warm smile as she came out from the living room. Shego trailed behind the redhead, smiling just as warmly surprisingly enough. 

“Hey,” Bonnie said with a weak wave. Kim leaned in for a kiss, which she got. Shego then came in for her own, which she also got.

“You look beat,” Shego commented, not that she expected anything different.

Bonnie just sighed and shook her head, dismissing the matter. Shego offered her a sad half-smile while Kim reached out and caressed her cheek. Bonnie leaned into the touch slightly.

Her lovers were getting used to Bonnie coming in looking at if she had just taken on the world and she did not look like she won. They certainly did not like it. Bonnie was supposed to be happy. She had a job, they had their own home, and they were together. Bonnie should not have to put up with a bunch of crap at work. 

“I’m so glad it’s the weekend,” Bonnie said in a low voice, a small smile gracing her features. Oh, she would just lounge around all day with her girlfriends without having to hear anyone ordering her around and without anyone giving her genuinely hated looks. _Why the hell do they hate me? I highly doubt any of them got their jobs at that firm through their own merit_.

“Want me to put some tea on for you?” Kim offered in a tender voice and a soft expression, continuing to caress Bonnie’s cheek.

“Please and thank you,” Bonnie replied, trying to force out a thankful smile. It did not make it to her face, but the redhead did not need the smile to carry out her task.

Kim walked off to go make the tea and get Bonnie’s favorite snack ready for her. Shego picked up Bonnie’s briefcase and took her jacket for her. Bonnie muttered her thanks while yanking at her tie and walking toward the bathroom. She planned on taking the longest, hottest shower possible just to wash away the grime of the day.

“They’re wearing her out over there,” Kim commented, sounding just a bit worried. 

Shego waved it off. “She’ll be fine. They’re probably just trying to make sure she’s cut out to work there. As long as she hangs in there, I’m sure things’ll get better,” she replied, hoping to ease away Kim’s concern as she put away Bonnie’s things.

“Wow, that’s really optimistic of you,” Kim said with a laugh, glancing at Shego as she came over.

“Ah, damn it!” Shego groaned when she realized the hero was right. She was being optimistic. Damn Kimmie and the fact that she rubbed off on people! She took a deep breath to regain her composure. “I guess it is, but I’ve got faith in the demon child. I gotta have faith in you two, right?”

Kim only smiled, quite happy to hear that. It was nice to see Shego trying to step out of her “tough girl” routine. Now that Kim thought about it, she guessed she needed to try to step out of her own shell. _It seems like the only one out of us who is being totally open and honest is Bonnie_ , she thought. Bonnie was also the one who tried her best to get them out of their defensive little shells. 

“Hey, wanna give her a treat?” Kim suggested with a bright smile, turning to look at the older woman for a moment. It was not like the tea bags or hot water would run away if they were not under her constant watch.

“A treat?” Shego echoed with a craned eyebrow. She wondered what Kim was going on about now. After all, the tea and cookies were already there.

“Just to show we support her, we treat her like a duchess tonight,” the hero proposed, still smiling.

“Fine. So, I guess I’m cooking dinner,” Shego said. After all, if Kim cooked dinner, they might all have to go to the hospital after the meal. 

“Well, we could always order out. You know the number of that restaurant she likes, right?”

That definitely sounded better than cooking and could turn into much more of a treat for Bonnie. “Yeah, I’ll call them.”

Kim nodded. So, they got to work to make Bonnie’s night relaxing and get her to forget all about her job. They knew they probably had just taken on a herculean task, but Kim could do anything and Shego was more than capable. _We got this_ , Shego figured. 

-8-8-8-8-

While Bonnie was in the shower, all she could do was think about her hellish job. She appreciated that Shego and her parents had gone out of their way to get her employed at such a well-known law firm, but she was sick of the place already. She had only been there a few weeks, but it felt like a few years.

She did not have any clients yet since none of her clients from her old firm followed her when she was first fired. She was certain the fact that she disappeared for two months had not helped. The firm she was at now did not seem interested in trusting her with any clients either.

“Which doesn’t make any sense. I mean, I am a competent lawyer and I’ve proven it time and time again,” Bonnie muttered, leaning into the hot spray in front of her. Her record spoke for itself, but it did not seem to speak loudly.

As far as Bonnie could tell, no one was sure what to do with her at the firm. It was like they wanted to let her go, but they knew they could not. So, instead they just hit her with a bunch of busy work and then had the nerve to seem shocked she able to carry such tasks out in a timely manner without screwing up. 

“I might as well be working with my family,” she grumbled. Tilting her head, she let the water wash over her face. Spitting the water out, she put her head down now.

She tried to stop thinking about it as the hot water of the shower washed over her, relaxing her muscles and easing her nerves. She stayed in the shower for almost an hour, which was becoming her norm. She tried to get rid of all of her tension in the shower before facing her girlfriends. She did not want her job to interfere with her personal life, especially since everything was going so well with her ladies. Just thinking about her lovers helped relax her and by the time she got out of the shower, she was ready for them.

Bonnie threw on her house clothes and went out into the living room, where Kim and Shego were. Her tea and plate of fig newtons waited for her on the coffee table. She went and sat with them, finding they were sitting where their usual order was going to be thrown off. Shego was in her typical place, but Kim sat where Bonnie usually was. The lawyer decided against saying anything about it.

Bonnie settled into the sofa, in Kim’s spot, and they started watching her stories with her, as they did everyday. Bonnie and Shego were still quite into the soap operas while Kim just tuned in because her girls liked her being there. Bonnie had her tea and they all had some of the fig newtons. And then, before Bonnie even realized it, she was lying against Shego and while her feet were in Kim’s lap. Suddenly, Shego was massaging her shoulders and Kim was rubbing her feet.

“What are you guys doing?” Bonnie inquired, not that she was objecting. The rubdown felt really good, after all. 

“Shhh,” Shego whispered in her ear. “Let us take care of you for once.”

Bonnie did not protest, loving the attention and not even caring about the reason. She knew from the past that it felt good to be the center of attention, but to be the main focus of her lovers was even better. She felt ready to melt under their gentle, precise administrations. She closed her eyes and practically purred in delight as they worked on her.

“Good idea,” Shego mouthed to Kim. She did not say it aloud because she did not want to disturb Bonnie. 

Kim only nodded. She actually thought she waited too long to suggest it. She supposed that for a while she did not think Shego would go along with it. But, she was obviously wrong.

The massages were paused after sometime because the buzzer rang, signaling someone was at the front door of the building. Kim and Shego knew that was dinner arriving more than likely. Shego got up since she had done the ordering.

“When you come in, go to the elevator and come to the top floor,” Shego instructed the deliveryman. The building entrance was only to a small lobby that the elevator. There was then another door to enter the school. This way, they did not have to worry about delivery people wandering the school when it was closed. 

Plus, Shego had no intention of going downstairs to meet this or any other deliveryman. She met him in the hall and checked everything over when he got off of the elevator. Finding everything in order, she paid him, making sure to include a tip since she was in a good mood.

“Wow, thanks,” he said when he saw the size of her tip.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just be aware you’ve got a minute from the time the elevator hits the bottom floor to get out of the building. If not, the security system boots up and you damn sure won’t like it,” Shego informed him.

He did not know if she was joking or not, but had no intention of calling her bluff. She watched him get back on the elevator and then she returned to her lovers. 

“Wait, what’s this?” Bonnie asked as she opened her eyes to look around. She smelled the heavenly aroma of familiar food, which suddenly grabbed her attention.

“Just something to lift your spirits,” Shego replied, putting their meal down on the coffee table.

“You guys don’t have to go through all this trouble for me,” Bonnie said, almost sounding believable.

Snorting, Shego rolled her eyes. “Shut the hell up. Don’t try to act some humble,” she retorted with a half-smile on her face. 

Bonnie only laughed. Fine, she had been busted. She was quite happy that they were putting up a fuss over her. It reminded her that she was special, adored, and valued by the two most important people for her. She sat up to eat, finding out they had ordered food from her favorite restaurant and also that they got her favorite meal.

“I didn’t know they delivered,” Bonnie mused aloud.

“Um… it’s a new thing they’re trying out!” Kim offered quickly since Shego did not seem prepared for that comment.

“Oh, yeah, totally new,” Shego concurred. She was going to just say she threatened the restaurant and got good results, but she knew that would bother Bonnie a bit since it was illegal. She did not want to cause Bonnie any stress. After all, Bonnie always took care of them, well, now it was their turn.

“That’s great. I’m glad you guys knew about it,” Bonnie said, even though she suspected what actually happened. She was happy they would go through such trouble for her, even Kim trying to lie to keep her from worrying.

Kim and Shego smiled merrily, glad to see their lover happy. They all ate, content with everything so far. Kim and Shego cleared away the clutter when they were done and then they settled in to watch a movie. They laid on the sofa in their usual order since they all preferred to rest that way when they could. After a couple of movies, the occasionally petting, and random conversations, they retired to their bedroom.

“This courtesy, it extends here, too, right?” Shego asked Kim in a low tone as they all moved about to do their usual nighttime rituals, like gathering items to get their hair in order.

“Definitely,” Kim answered with a smirk.

Shego smirked, too. She wanted to see what it was like to be on the giving end and focusing on only one of her girls. She also wanted to see how Bonnie would feel about being teased and taunted, as Bonnie and Kim typically did to her when they focused solely on Shego. It would actually a first for them to focus exclusively on one of them aside from Shego. Both she and Kim thought things would be fun. 

They did not let Bonnie in on the plan. They went about their nightly routine as always with them all sitting on the bed. Shego was in front of Kim, who was braiding Shego’s raven mane. Bonnie was behind Kim and brushing her hair to pull it into a silky ponytail. Bonnie was done before Kim and moved to sit in front of Shego, who brushed Bonnie’s hair into a ponytail for her.

Shego decided to give Bonnie a hint on what was to come with some gentle caressing from behind as she continued brushing. Bonnie was surprised for a moment as she felt fingers on the small of her back, but she quickly relaxed under Shego’s touch. Suddenly, Kim seemed to appear out of nowhere in front of Bonnie, her chin practically in Bonnie’s lap, and her hands fixed on Bonnie’s thighs.

“What’re you two doing?” Bonnie inquired in a low voice that was almost a breath.

“Loving you,” Shego whispered into Bonnie’s ear before nipping on the aforementioned body part. Bonnie shuddered as Shego’s mouth remained near her ear and on her neck. 

Since it was clear that Bonnie was not going to put up a struggle or protest, the duo proceeded on. Shego lifted off Bonnie’s tank top, revealing her bare chest. Shego went right for supple flesh. Bonnie moaned when Shego’s strong hands came into contact with her, tenderly kneading her breasts.

“You feel so good,” Shego hissed into Bonnie’s ear before bending down to kiss her lips.

Kim was not to be outdone. She eased off Bonnie’s shorts, taking the underwear right along with those. Bonnie hissed when Kim came in for her attack, kissing along Bonnie’s inner thigh and caressing the other one with her hand. Bonnie was practically shivering with desire after about a minute.

“You taste good, too,” Kim said, lips pressed against Bonnie’s thigh.

“Oh, god!” Bonnie moaned loudly. “You’re both so good, so amazing. Oh, god.” 

“Don’t fall to pieces yet. We’ve got all night,” Shego whispered seductively into the lawyer’s ear before running her tongue along the shell. She nipped the earlobe once more.

Bonnie doubted she would be able to last all night, but she was willing to give it a chance if her girls were really about to give her such treatment for the whole night. It seemed like they were, too. She could not believe that they decided to do her in such a manner, but she was not going to complain. She whimpered as Kim pressed as hand to her stomach. 

“Oh, Kimmie. Do that again. I liked that sound,” Shego said.

“This?” Kim dragged her teeth from Bonnie’s thigh along to where Bonnie wanted her the most. Bonnie whimpered again.

“It sounds so good. I wonder what it tastes like,” Shego commented. “One more time, Kimmie.”

Kim wasted no time obliging. As her teeth moved against Bonnie, Shego moved to give her a kiss. She rolled one of Bonnie’s nipples as she did so. Bonnie turned as best she could with Kim holding her legs, wanting to give Shego a proper kiss. She moaned into Shego’s mouth and that turned into a scream as Kim moved mid-kiss, kissing Bonnie somewhere else. 

Kim’s mouth was hot and her tongue determined. Bonnie fell away from Shego, now trying to chase Kim’s mouth. Shego did not make it easy, following her, trying to distract her with a kiss of her own.

“Yes, baby, yes. Please, keep going. Yes,” Bonnie panted before Shego was on her again. 

Kim growled a little as Bonnie moved away from her, now trying to get more of Shego. Grabbing Bonnie’s leg, Kim placed it on her shoulder, hoping to bring Bonnie back to her. Bonnie’s back bowed as Kim’s tongue touched her again. She fell away from Shego.

Shego chuckled. “She’s not going to stay still, I guess.”

Kim did not say anything and Bonnie only moaned. Shego followed Bonnie down and decided to taste another part of Bonnie. She kissed her way down to Bonnie’s breasts and took a gem into her mouth. Bonnie cried out and flailed a little. The movement did not stop either of her girlfriends, who tasted her to their hearts’ content. 

Bonnie was a bit unruly throughout the night. She did a lot of twisting and convulsing. She almost hit Kim in the head a few times with her knee, but Kim did not seem notice. Kim’s main concern was making sure her mouth stayed on Bonnie and her hands caressed the lawyer as often as possible.

A few times, Bonnie moved away from Shego by accident, but she did not know that such movements saved her from Shego’s revenge. Whenever the pale woman was planning to tease the lawyer, Bonnie ended up jerking away. Eventually, Shego decided against teasing and just went all out, wanting Bonnie to enjoy every second of this attention.

“Oh, god!” Bonnie cried out, her chosen chant of the night apparently. 

They were pretty sure if they were in their old house, the neighbors would have heard Bonnie screaming for more and possibly called the police to complain about the noise. They were all typically loud if given a reason to be. Hell, Shego was loud and vulgar much of the time, saying some things that would have made a prostitute blush at times. Kim generally did not say any real words if she was being worked on in just the right way. Bonnie could get out whole sentences sometimes, but she usually just called out simple phrases. They tended to think it was good for them to be so vocal because it let them know when they were doing things right.

“Please, keep doing that,” Bonnie begged, several times. Eventually, she collapsed onto the bed and could not move. 

Bonnie was worn out when Kim and Shego decided she had had enough. They had to give her some time to get herself together, too. They left her panting in the middle of the bed, giving her a chance to catch her breath. 

“She’s beautiful like this,” Shego commented, just staring down at Bonnie. The lawyer lie there, peacefully, just breathing and watching the ceiling with half-closed eyes.

“She’s beautiful all the time,” Kim corrected her lover as she stretched.

Shego yawned and stretched, too. “She is that.” She smiled at Bonnie. “The feeling in your legs come back yet?”

Bonnie shook her head. “Can’t move,” she sighed. 

Bonnie could not even move when they wanted to crawl under the covers and go to sleep, including her. Shego gathered Bonnie in her arms and Kim pulled the sheets back. Shego positioned Bonnie in the center of the bed while Kim went to turn the lights out. They all settled in for sleep, goodnight kisses exchanged all around. 

“Thanks,” Bonnie whispered into the dark.

“Don’t thank us, silly,” Kim replied with a smile as she cuddled into Bonnie’s right side.

“It was our pleasure, after all,” Shego remarked with a smirk of her own as she made herself comfortable against Bonnie’s left side.

“Mine, too,” Bonnie said with a tired laugh. “Now, can we go to sleep?” she requested with a small, cute yawn.

“Sure,” Kim agreed, smiling a bit. She was quite pleased with the fact that they had worn Bonnie out.

“Then, Shego, stop touching my ass like that,” Bonnie complained. 

“What?” Shego asked, pretending to be totally innocent.

“Shego, be good,” Kim scolded the older woman.

“Fine, fine, fine. But, can you blame me? I mean, it’s a really nice ass,” Shego remarked. 

“Thank you, but I’m so tired…” Bonnie yawned again.

“‘Night, Princess. ‘Night, Duchess,” Shego said to them.

“Goodnight, love,” the younger pair replied. They all drifted into a deep sleep; Bonnie went off with a smile. It was great to be loved.

-*-(New day)-*-

Bonnie went into work on Monday feeling fantastic. Her lovers had treated her well that weekend, so she felt able to make it through another week of crappy treatment at the firm. She ignored glares from coworkers as she walked by. She knew the hostility toward her existed for a few reasons.

For the partners in the firm who were “in the know” knew she was hired after some pushing from Kane and Isabel Go. It was kind of shitty for them to glare at her, though. She knew several lawyers here were family members or friends of partners. She was certain there were even more lawyers that she did not know who got their jobs in a similar manner that she got hers.

For those who did not know that, some hated Bonnie’s attitude. Bonnie carried herself like she was the Queen of the world no matter what most of the time and often she felt that way. This seemed to rub people the wrong way, which she was all right with because she was used to.

And some people just resented how easily Bonnie seemed to get hired. This brought her back to not understanding. Again, other people in the firm had been hired because they knew the right people, too.

And one of the last reasons people glowered at her was that some people were still stuck on the fact that the newspapers and such had been reporting not too long ago that Bonnie was caught in a lesbian love triangle involving an infamous thief and famous adventurer. This still bothered people for even more reasons. Maybe they hated gay people or maybe they just looked at her as someone helping to drag the great Kim Possible’s name through the mud.

The very thought upset Bonnie. As if somehow being a lesbian made Kim less than a hero or that Kim was less good because she slept with Bonnie. _People are so stupid_. She could hear them whispering about all of those things as she walked to her office.

Bonnie also did not miss the fact that some people eyed for reasons other than hatred. A lot of the guys watched her, some having the nerve to talk loud enough to let her know what was going through their minds. Once she heard a guy talking about how he wanted to use her tie and his tie to bind her to a bed and do all sorted little kinky things to her. She had been very tempted to tell her girlfriends about the man’s fantasy, but she decided to spare him for the moment. If he ever tried to act on the fantasy or even spoke to her, then she was going to let Shego burn his face off.

“Just look at her ass,” one guy muttered as she walked by.

“She fills out that suit better than most,” another commented.

She sighed in relief when she made it to her office. The space was about the size of a closet. She would not be surprised if it was such a thing before she arrived. She sucked her teeth and tossed her briefcase onto her crappy desk. She had been given the desk with the office, which was fine since the desk that was given to her as a gift for her new job by her girlfriends was too big to fit in the office. That desk was currently in storage in their home, waiting for Bonnie to get a better workspace.

“How long will that take?” she wondered aloud. Sometimes, it felt like she would never advance and always be the butt of some joke around here.

Before Bonnie could sit down, the annoyances began. Senior lawyers burst into her office without knocking, demanding she look up cases for them to help them with whatever they were working on. Others came and had her read through contracts, asking her opinion, only to snub her after she stated what she thought. She was pretty much on the outside looking in when it came to practicing law at the moment. It was bugging the crap out of her. _I could run circles around some of these bastards if they let me_. 

Sometimes, when people barging in and shoving Bonnie around, others came around just to make fun of her. Some people would ask her to get them coffee or try to send her out for their lunch. Bonnie did not care she was new around the office and she easily let people know she was not an assistant. Anyone that dared mouth off at her after that, well, she would breathe fire on the little piss-ant. 

“Hey, Bonnie, let me help you with those,” a man offered as he seemed to come out of nowhere to walk with Bonnie. He was dressed in an expensive suit with wavy blond hair that dropped to his broad shoulders. He had a smile that seemed to sparkle when he flashed the expression. He was tall with a healthy complexion, pretty much an Adonis. Any woman at the firm would have loved to have his attention… except the one who had it anyway.

“I don’t need your help,” Bonnie practically snapped. She hated how everyone acted so familiar with her while using her to do grunt work. She was currently carrying a case packet for one of the senior lawyers. She wished she could make the man next to her eat it.

“Oh, come now. I don’t mind,” he informed her in a sickeningly charming voice. He had a slight southern drawl, like he was from Texas. It drove women wild as far as he could tell, making them feel comfortable around him. She suspected he faked the accent. 

Bonnie frowned. Maybe seven or eight years ago, he would have had a chance to get in her pants, but he was a long way away from those years. Now, all he had a chance of doing was getting on her nerves and talking to her like she was a naïve high-school girl that would fall for his insincere generosity was just the way to do it. In a few moments, she was just going to have to tell him where he could go and what he could do when he got there.

“How about you let me help you with those and you let me get you some coffee?” he offered. His eyes drifted to her chest, checking out her bust, even though her shirt was buttoned all the way up. 

“Lyle, will you just go the hell away?” Bonnie requested as civilly as possible considering her choice of words.

“I just want to help you,” he pointed out, flashing his award-winning smile. His teeth practically sparkled.

“And I don’t want you to. What’s so hard to understand about that?” she inquired through gritted teeth with an annoyed look on her face.

The blond man, Lyle, was ready to counter her, but he did not get the chance. An assistant came out of nowhere. She needed to talk with Bonnie apparently and totally ignored Lyle, moving in between him and the object of his desire. 

“Bonnie, Mister Darrow needs to see you right now,” the assistant informed Bonnie in an urgent tone.

“See me?” Bonnie echoed as if she did not know what that even meant. He was a named partner after all. His name was on the freaking front of the building. Why would he want to see her, especially since he was one of the people who was pissed to have to hire her in the first place?

“Yes, see you. If you would just give me these…” The assistant took the items Bonnie held. “I’ll get them to where they need to be and you need to get to that office right now.”

Bonnie was confused for a moment, but she hurried off to go see what Darrow wanted with her. Lyle watched her go, blatantly staring at her ass as she fled the scene. The assistant rolled her eyes to his behavior. 

“She’s a dyke, you know,” the assistant said venomously, more liking to burst his perverted bubble than anything else. She had never shown any real animosity to Bonnie.

“That’s just a rumor,” Lyle replied, brushing it off with a flick of his hand.

“That was plastered on every paper and magazine around the world for a couple of months not too long ago.” 

“Even if she is, that’s just code for a girl who hasn’t found a good man.”

The assistant once again rolled her eyes. Some men just thought too highly of themselves. But then again, she thought while glancing at Bonnie’s retreating form, some women thought too highly of themselves, too. Bonnie would have argued she had reason to think highly of herself and she certainly would have listed why that was, too.

Bonnie went to Charlie Darrow’s office. He was on the phone, but when he saw her at the door, through the front windows that he had lining the front wall of his office, he motioned for her to come in. She entered quietly to avoid disturbing his phone call. He continued on the phone while she stood there.

Bonnie looked around at the office. It was huge, especially compared to hers; ten of her office probably would not fill his up. He had a great view with giant windows that were at his back. His desk was large and polished black. There were bookshelves lining one wall and a couple of expensive couches on the opposite wall. The carpet underneath her feet was plush and cream colored. There were a few paintings hanging around and from being in a relationship with Shego, she had learned to judge art. Apparently, Charlie had excellent taste.

Charlie hung up the phone as Bonnie came in for a seat in the leather chair in front of his desk. He turned his attention to her. He stared at her for a moment with a somewhat cold look in his dark brown eyes. His hard gaze told her how he felt about her presence, even though his mouth had not kept it a secret when she first came to the firm.

Bonnie almost thought he might be firing her. She was not sure if he could do such a thing without incurring the seemingly terrible wrath of Isabel, or Kane (she was not sure which one of them had control of him), but he honestly and openly told her on her first day he did not want her around. He did not have anything against her personally, but he hated that the firm was forced to hire her. She wondered if everyone else got the same speech. Most of the time, she suspected they did.

“I’ve got a client for you, Rockwaller,” he said.

“A client?” she echoed calmly. On the inside, she cheered her ass off. She was finally going to be doing something aside from acting like everyone’s god-forsaken lackey! 

“Yes, a client. A somewhat big client. You’ve heard of Heather Reel?” he asked.

Bonnie raised a puzzled eyebrow. “You mean the movie star?” she countered to be sure.

He nodded. “Yes, I mean the movie star. She fired her other lawyer and called us. She requested you specifically. Do you know why?” he inquired, his eyes shining in a way that almost seemed interested in her answer.

Bonnie was mystified. She had met Heather once back when she was in high school and the star was preparing for a role to play Kim, but that was it. She actually put it out of her mind after a while, having grown up over the years after that happened. She would be shocked if Heather even remembered who the hell she was.

“I have no idea why,” Bonnie answered honestly.

“Fair enough. Well, she’s coming by this afternoon to meet up with you. Don’t screw this up, Rockwaller,” he ordered rather dispassionately.

“Believe it or not, before I met you, I was a rather competent lawyer in my own right and not a damn gopher,” she pointed out. 

“Well, try being a competent lawyer again,” he replied without missing a beat.

“Watch me do my thing,” she declared, putting her chin in the air. She was affectionately known as the legal rottweiler for a reason, after all, and she carried the name with pride. 

Bonnie exited the office and got ready to meet her client. She did not have much to do since she did not have to make her office presentable. She got out some papers that would show off her skills as a lawyer if Heather wanted to see anything. She was kind of upset that she would have to receive a client in such a miniature office.

“How the hell are both of us going to fit in here and still have enough air?” Bonnie commented to herself, looking around her box of a workspace. 

The lawyer was saved from having to bring her first client into that tiny office because Heather called her. Apparently, the actress wanted to meet over lunch, which suited her just fine. She just had to call her girlfriends to let them know she was not going to be able to having lunch with them for once.

“Hey, baby,” Bonnie said into the phone, speaking to Kim.

“Hi!” Kim chirped. It sounded like she was so happy just to hear from Bonnie over the phone. Her tone made her girlfriend smile softly. 

“I won’t be able to make it to lunch today. I’m going to be meeting with a client,” Bonnie reported.

“Oh, a client. They’re finally letting you show your legal teeth around there. Well, don’t let up and do your best, baby,” Kim encouraged her.

“I will. You and Shego enjoy lunch.”

“Okay, see you tonight.” 

“All right.” The call was disconnected on that note. 

-8-8-8-8-

Kim smiled to herself, pleased to know Bonnie was finally getting some respect at work and being trusted with a client. She was about to go downstairs, as her classes were still held on the second floor. She needed to get Shego, so they could go to lunch. She just had to wait until all her kids were gone and then she got a call from Wade.

“What’s the sitch, Wade?” Kim asked as she trotted down the stairs. She stopped on the last step, seeing that Shego was still busy with a couple of students. 

“You got a hit on your site. You want to do a bit of guard duty?” he inquired curiously.

The hero thought about it for a moment. She was getting very picky about her missions lately. She had other things to worry about, after all, than something like rescuing an old lady’s cat out of a tree.

“Well, what is it and how long do they want me to guard it for?” she asked.

“It’s a priceless artifact that’s being showcased at the Middleton museum for a week. They’re very nervous about leaving it unattended at night and just want you to monitor it for a few hours every night while it’s here. They’ve even willing to pay you, apparently,” he reported.

Kim took a bit a of an inhale. She hated to think about how she and her girls really could use some money, especially for the school. She and Bonnie did not want to just bleed Shego’s trust dry, after all. Besides, her independent streak made her want to be able to chip in on things.

“How much money we talking about?” Kim found herself asking. Part of her could not believe she said that, but another part reminder her about the amount of money her lovers brought to their relationship and what she brought to the table. 

When Wade filled her in, she decided to take the mission. With business out of the way, Kim bid Wade farewell and went to get Shego. Shego was done with her students by then.

“It’s just us for lunch, love. Bonnie had a lunch meeting with a client,” Kim reported.

Shego smiled. “It’s about time they let her do some real work over there.”

“That’s what I said. Oh, and it’ll just be you and Bonnie for dinner tonight. I’ve got a mission.”

“What kind of mission?” 

Kim waved it off. “No big. Just guarding a priceless artifact while it’s in the museum. It’s not usually on display for the masses, so they couldn’t really think of a better security system than me, apparently.” She stood a little taller.

Shego chuckled. “The best and cheapest security system ever invented. Be careful, okay?” 

Kim snorted and did not even dignify that. Shego threw a teasing grin her way. Before they left, they walked down the hall to another open room in the school.

“Hey, Yori, we’re going to lunch,” Kim said to the ninja, who was just finishing up with her own class.

Yori turned her attention to her employers to respond to Kim. “All right. I’m leaving in a second, too. One day, you’ve got to come to the place that Ron-kun works and try his food.”

“I’ve got to get both Shego and Bonnie to agree to that. It’s harder than you might think,” the redhead replied with a bit of a smile.

Yori nodded, even though she did not totally understand that. She did not totally understand Kim being in a relationship with both Shego and Bonnie either. She was not sure if it was cultural thing or just that she grew up on a secluded mountaintop training to be a ninja. Ron tried to tell her it was neither of those because he did not totally understand the relationship either. In fact, he was pretty sure he understood the relationship even less than Yori considering he knew Bonnie and Shego just as long as Kim did. 

“See you in an hour,” Kim said.

Yori just waved as Kim and Shego left the school. Yori had not been teaching at the school for that long, almost two weeks. She got her students out of both Kim’s and Shego’s classes since they were all pretty much amateurs when it came to the art of ninjutsu. She had fifteen students, but Kim assured her that she would undoubtedly get more as their students liked to spread news about the school through word of mouth and it worked wonders. 

Yori had been just a little intimidated at first when Kim invited her to teach classes at the school, with Shego’s approval of course. The ninja had not been sure what to expect after Kim warned her that some of the students were “friendly.” Yori did not think anything of that until Kim explained what she meant by “friendly.” Shego laughed long and hard when she saw Yori’s expression.

Yori had the pleasure of meeting quite a few of those “friendly” students in her few days of teaching. No one groped her thanks to a couple of pep talks from Kim, but she heard the term “cute” and “adorable” more times than she ever had in her life directed toward her. She had also heard some things she dared not repeat, but that did not frighten her off. She would stick it out, especially since she could tell that despite the things some of them said, all of the students were dedicated and determined in learning not just from her, but from Kim and Shego too. She just made sure not to tell Ron about the things that were said because she did not want him to worry.

Thinking of Ron, Yori decided to leave for lunch herself. She armed the security system as she left. She did not have to lock up as long as the security system was on.

-8-8-8-8-

Bonnie met up with Heather at café that was close to her firm. It was a pretty expensive place to eat, but Bonnie supposed that one had to spend money to make money. She easily spotted Heather because of her signature red hair. It was the one thing about her that she refused to change over the years as her star rose. 

“Hi, I’m Bonnie Rockwaller,” the lawyer introduced herself as she stood before the movie star.

“I can see that,” Heather replied in a polite tone with a smile. “You look familiar,” she commented as she stood up to shake Bonnie’s hand.

“Well, you know, the papers,” Bonnie admitted, looking a bit embarrassed. 

“No, even before that. You seem really familiar.” 

Bonnie shrugged, not sure what to tell Heather. She did not think the redhead remembered meeting her briefly while she was in high school. She was not sure if she wanted Heather to remember her. 

She silently admitted the years had been good to Heather. The movie star was only a year older than she was, but the years in between from the last time that she saw Heather to now made it seem like Heather was a whole new person, and she meant that in a good way.

Heather seemed to have done some growing up in that time, too. She was dressed in business casual clothing, nothing too fancy. She had a button-down shirt that was yellow with black strips going down it and black slacks on. Her shoes were clearly expensive, though. 

The pair sat down after shaking hands. Bonnie was about to talk business, but Heather stopped her. The starlet wanted to order some food first. Once there was food in front of them, they were both having salad, Heather was ready to talk, but not about business.

“You know, those pictures of you in those magazines didn’t do you justice,” Heather commented casually before moving some parts around in her salad. 

Bonnie arched an eyebrow, thinking that was an odd thing for her to say. She worked past it, trying not to read too much into it. She then remembered she needed to say something back to keep the conversation going.

“Thanks. I could say the same about shots of you,” the attorney remarked with a friendly smile. She speared a little tomato and ate it. 

Heather smiled a bit, too. “Sometimes, they don’t get my best side. So, all of those juicy rumors about you and Kim Possible, are they true?”

“If they were true, they wouldn’t be called rumors, now would they?” Bonnie countered with a half-smile to keep things friendly. The papers had gotten things wrong, even though all of those pictures that were taken were true.

“You know, I was going to be in a movie based on Kim Possible when I was younger. I followed her around for a while to get into character. She was something else,” Heather said, nodding a bit. 

Bonnie felt a bit of pride in her and wanted to tell the star that this amazing person Kim Possible was all hers. There was also a bit of jealousy there, too. She did not like when people spoke with awe of Kim because it made her think that they were going to try to take Kim from her. She quickly calmed herself down, though, figuring if Heather wanted Kim, then she would have tried for her a long time ago.

“I wish we’d made that movie,” Heather commented with a small nostalgic sigh. “But, there were other movies out there.” 

“Yeah,” Bonnie agreed. Heather was in some good films, some blockbusters and others just plain good. Actually, Bonnie was not much of a fan of Heather’s personally, but sometimes the movies seemed interesting or she was costarring with someone that Bonnie thought was a decent actor.

“So, you’ve seen my movies?” the redhead asked with an intrigued glint in her eyes. 

“Some of them.” She watched some and others were just a good excuse to curl up into Kim with in the past. Now, there were some that were a good excuse to cuddle up with Kim or Shego. It was not that Heather was a bad actress or anything, but Bonnie just felt like she outgrew many of the roles that Heather played.

Heather spent the lunch talking about a bunch of things that had nothing to do with business. Bonnie stayed in it, looking to make Heather comfortable with her, even though it did not seem like she had much of a task ahead of her. The movie star seemed rather comfortable around her, enough to reach across the table several times to take Bonnie’s hand while laughing at something or another. Bonnie tried not to think anything of it, even when Heather invited her out for dinner that night. Bonnie hoped dinner did not go anything like lunch.

Bonnie left the meal feeling a bit odd. She dared to think she had just been on a date. It had that kind of feel to it, but she tried to dismiss it from her mind. She needed to focus on keeping her client happy to show her new bosses she could handle anything they threw at her.

-8-8-8-8-

Shego sighed, bored out of her mind. She was home alone. She had been tempted to join Kim on her mission when they found out that Bonnie would be having dinner with “a client.” Bonnie had not said the client’s name, which was a little suspicious in Shego’s opinion, but she dismissed it as her usual paranoia. 

She decided to go have a workout to occupy her time. She jumped into some sweats and made her way to the basement, where the gym was. She stretched and then decided to do some weight training. She did not get far into it before she started to feel like she was being watched. She dismissed it at first, but it persisted.

“What the hell?” the pale woman muttered to herself, looking around. _Someone’s here, damn it. But, how?_

Shego tore herself away from what she was doing. She had to search around the gym to make sure that she was by herself. There was no one else around. She went into one of the many monitoring rooms scattered about the building to check the camera equipment set up. As far as she could tell, she was alone.

Shego shrugged and went back to her workout. She could not shake the feeling that she was being watched. She ended up checking around the building several times while trying to continue her workout. 

“Damn it, when are Kimmie and Bonnie coming home?” Shego wondered aloud. One of them would be able to tell her that she was just being paranoid and that nothing was going on. She would have to wait for that, though. The feeling prevailed for a couple of hours, much to her dismay.

-8-8-8-8-

Kim arrived at the museum as darkness set in. It began to rain before she could get into the building. It was pouring before she even hit the stairs. Lightning and thunder blazed through the air. Kim was ready to dash into the museum, but something curious caught her eye before she made it. 

There was a newspaper on the corner of the steps. It moved and meowed, so Kim went to inspect it. She found a little calico cat cowering under the paper. Lightning crashed through the dark sky and the cat tried to retreat deeper into the paper. The feline shivered as thunder blared seconds later.

“Oh, you’re a scared little thing, huh? Come on, let’s get you out of the rain,” Kim offered in a low, loving tone. 

She picked the cat up, pressing the shaking creature to her chest to comfort it, and then she dashed into the museum. The exhibit manager met up with her and she got to see for the first time what she was guarding. She had expected some priceless gem or crown jewels or something. Instead, she was looking at a stone with some small carvings on it.

“This is a very old piece and tells a piece of a Sumerian myth that we never heard of until this was discovered,” the man in charge informed her. 

“I’m guessing it’s a good myth if people are lining up to see it,” Kim commented, looking at the stone.

“Quite. It mostly talks about the location of the fountain of youth,” he replied with a bit of an amused smile. 

“And that’s interesting, huh?” Kim did not see the big deal since it was a myth. Now, if it was the truth, she might have a little more to say on it. Of course, beyond the story, the stone itself was interesting.

“Apparently so. Most people believe it, especially since it’s quite detailed. We just need to find the other pieces first.”

Kim laughed a bit. “I guess that would be a good idea.”

“Right now, though, this piece is worth more than either of us can imagine. So, we figured that at night, we’d get the world’s savior to watch it and make sure that nothing happens to it since you’re right in your own backyard,” he pointed out.

“No big,” Kim said with a shrug. It was no big since she was being paid good money for it. Maybe she would have done such a thing out of the kindness of her heart if only she had not experienced so many rude awakenings in the past few months, especially how the city practically turned on her when she was outed. 

“Also, watch your friend there,” he said, motioning to the cat.

Kim smiled as her promise to watch the cat. She set herself up for her night of watching the stone. She was glad to have found the cat outside because now she had some company. She kept the cat with her, caressing it while ranting throughout the night about whatever came to mind. She even shared her dinner with the cat, which the little feline seemed to be thankful for.

“You were hungry, huh?” Kim said, finishing up her spaghetti. She gave the cat most of her meatballs and those were gone. As soon as Kim was done with her food, the cat jumped back in her lap and settled against her. Sighing, Kim petted the feline’s back. 

The cat was certainly more content than Kim by the end of the night from what she could tell. It seemed to be smiling as it fell asleep in her arms, leaving her alone for the rest of the night. She busied herself by rubbing behind the cat’s ear and wondering about the rest of the stone.

“Maybe there is a fountain of youth out there somewhere,” Kim considered. Stranger things had happened, after all. 

-8-8-8-8-

Bonnie got out of her car and into the restaurant where she was meeting Heather just in time to miss being caught in the rainstorm. She breathed a sigh of relief because she had on one of her favorite suits and she did not want to chance it being ruined. It was still the same suit from that afternoon because she hoped Heather would get the hint that they should be talking business. She was not so lucky.

“I’m glad you made it,” Heather said with a bright smile, standing up to greet the lawyer.

“I wouldn’t miss it,” Bonnie replied honestly as she made it to the table and they both sat down. She could only hope they talked some business if she was going to end up paying for the meal like she did at lunch.

“Good to know,” Heather commented with a bit of a giddy giggle. Bonnie smiled back and Heather started up a conversation, once again it had nothing to do with business. “So, have you ever been here before?”

Bonnie shook her head. “I have not.” She could have never afforded something like this before and the only reason she could afford it now was because Shego gave her and Kim access to her bank accounts. 

“It’s a wonderful little spot,” Heather said.

Bonnie looked around. _It’s not so little, but it does look wonderful_. She would probably have a wonderful time there if she were with Kim and Shego.

“I love the calamari here. You should try it,” Heather suggested as a waiter came over with menus. 

Bonnie made a sound that could have been a grunt, even though she hoped it was not, as she looked over the menu. She almost winced when she saw there were no prices. That was never a good thing.

They ordered and continued discussing everything under the sun, except for why Heather wanted to hire Bonnie as her lawyer. Dinner was pretty much a repeat of lunch, except with more touching on Heather’s part. She did not even seem to need an excuse to reach over and touch Bonnie’s hand or wrist or forearm.

“I’ll get this one,” Heather said when the bill was presented to them. 

“Oh, no, let me,” Bonnie insincerely insisted. If she got the bill, Shego might hit the ceiling considering the fact that Heather had ordered the most expensive wine along with their meal, which was far from cheap in its own right.

“No, no, no. You got lunch. If anything, you can spot me tomorrow,” the redhead replied, waving Bonnie off. 

“Tomorrow?” Bonnie echoed in a puzzled tone. Oh, god, she was going to have to go through this crap again tomorrow?

“Yes, tomorrow. We’ll go to lunch again. Unless you prefer breakfast.” 

Bonnie shook her head and did her best to look fine with it all. “Oh, no, lunch is fine.”

“Good.” Heather practically beamed as she smiled. 

Bonnie forced out a smile of her own. She was not really comfortable with all of these plans. She had not liked lunch with Heather and dinner did not change that fact. It once again felt more like she was out on a date, a date she did not want to repeat. _But, it’s for business_ , she reminded herself. _And I need everyone to see I can handle this because I_ can _handle this_.

“Thank you for meeting with me again, Bonnie,” Heather said as they stood to exit the building.

“No problem,” Bonnie replied and she was about to walk off, but Heather leaned over and kissed her cheek.

Bonnie froze. Now, it might have been nothing. Air-kisses and cheek-kisses could be casual. She had done it to plenty of people who meant nothing to her, but this seemed a bit much. It did not matter because Heather breezed out of the restaurant like everything was fine, so Bonnie let it go and went to get her car. 

Bonnie was happy to get home and take a shower. She then joined Shego, who was curled up on the sofa, watching an old horror movie and talking to Kim over the phone. Bonnie sat against Shego.

“Here, talk to Princess for a second, Duchess. She’s lonely,” Shego reported, handing Bonnie the phone. 

Bonnie wasted no time in talking to their lonely lover. While Bonnie helped soothe away Kim’s boredom, Shego adjusted the lawyer against her. Once Shego was done, Bonnie put the phone on speaker, so they could both talk to Kim. Kim sounded thankful for them, even when Shego started teasing her by telling her all kinds of sexual things that she was doing and going to do to Bonnie since it was just the two of them. Bonnie had to act as the voice of reason and assure Kim that Shego was mostly taunting.

“Shego, that’s not funny,” Kim said, and they could tell she was pouting. 

Shego laughed. “Yeah, it is. You should hear yourself whine.”

“You’re awful,” Bonnie said. 

“And you love me anyway,” Shego replied, pulling Bonnie in for a short kiss.

Bonnie sighed and shook her head. “What have you been up to, baby?”

Kim told them about the cat that she found that was supposed to be keeping her company, but was mostly just eating her food and sleeping against her. It seemed like it was the highlight of her day, they noted, and it almost made them want to talk about their days, too. They resisted that temptation, though. Shego wanted to tell them about how she kept feeling like she was being watched, but she thought they would dismiss it as paranoia. 

Bonnie certainly wanted to tell them about her day, from Lyle hitting on her to Heather being her client and possibly trying to date her in some weird way. She held off on that, though. She knew Shego would get upset about Lyle and Kim would be upset about Heather, even if Heather was not actually trying to date her. She would rather not bother her lovers with what she looked at as trivial matters since she had no intention of leaving them for Lyle or Heather.

“You make sure you don’t bring that nasty ass stray cat home,” Shego said to Kim. 

“Aw, why not?” Kim whined.

“Because we’re not keeping any cats around here,” Shego stated soundly. 

“But, it’s so cute! You two have to see her. She’s adorable. Plus, I never had a pet,” Kim argued. 

“No, no cats,” Shego insisted.

“Baby, tell the meanie to let me bring the cat home!” Kim whined to Bonnie.

“To be honest, baby, I think we need to get more settled in before we go around getting pets,” Bonnie replied. 

Kim whined loudly over the phone, wishing she could hit them with her puppy-dog pout, but it was rather ineffective when it could not be seen. Her whining did not sway them and she stopped after a couple of minutes. They continued on talking through the night until Kim left the museum as the place opened for the day. She was going to be able to get an hour’s worth of sleep in if she could hurry home.

“Thanks for the company, Cali,” Kim said to the cat as she released the feline outside of the museum. She had named the cat during the night when she was bored, but she doubted that anything would come of that. 

The cat meowed and seemed to smile at Kim, approving of the name. The cat watched Kim run off down the street. The feline seemed to pout as the hero disappeared from sight.

-8-8-8-8-

Bonnie yawned as she came into the firm. She had a cup of coffee in hand to keep her awake throughout the day. She did not regret staying up all night. It was always a pleasure to be of assistance to Kim. She had to dodge Lyle when she came in because she did not feel like bothering with him. She made it to her box of an office and hardly had a chance to sit down before she found out that she had a surprise visitor, namely Heather.

“Hey,” Bonnie said in shock as the star entered.

“Hi, I thought we’d talk shop for a while and then maybe grab some breakfast,” Heather proposed. 

“Um… okay,” Bonnie agreed. Finally, they would get to talk business. “Have a seat.” She motioned the small, cheap chair in front of her pathetic desk.

“They don’t give you much room to maneuver around here, do they?” Heather commented as she stepped deeper into the office and took the seat.

“Well, you have to start somewhere,” Bonnie said with a forced laugh. 

“Oh, well, looking at your record, I’d figure they’d have more faith in you than to start you at the bottom,” the star replied. Bonnie’s eyebrow arched, which did not go unnoticed by Heather. “Yes, I’ve checked your background. What, do you think I just request a lawyer on a whim?”

 _I didn’t know what to think_. “I wasn’t sure actually. I was wondering why you wanted me, though.”

“Well, there’s several reasons, but your viciousness when it comes to fighting for your client is certainly high on the list,” the redhead replied, sounding quite serious on the matter.

Bonnie nodded, suddenly impressed. Okay, so she was a conscious, well thought out decision, not chosen off of fickle, impulsiveness by a movie start. It was good to know because it boosted her ego, knowing her record was enough to bring her clients and not the fact that she was with some big firm that did not even want her around.

Before Bonnie could reply to that, her door was open again. Lyle barged into the room, smiling that irksome, charming smile of his. Bonnie sighed, feeling a headache trying to work its way to the forefront of her brain. She fought it off, hoping Lyle would disappear while she had the upper hand on the headache.

“Bonnie, would you—” Lyle started and then he noticed the other person in the room. “Why, hello,” he said smoothly, his attention locked on Heather now. His charming smile was on full force, ready to blind the other occupants of the room. 

“Good morning,” Heather replied politely.

“You’re the Heather Reel if I’m not mistaken,” he said.

“You are correct,” the actress assured him. 

“What is a stunning creature such as yourself doing here?” he asked.

“Talking to my lawyer.” Heather then motioned to Bonnie with an elegant sweep of her hand. 

Lyle glanced at Bonnie and seemed to have to fight off the urge to laugh. “Oh, yeah? That’s interesting. Maybe I can help,” he offered.

“I doubt it,” Heather replied confidently. She was essentially telling him to get out with her tone.

“Oh, but you never know,” he insisted.

“And I’m quite sure I won’t ever know, especially since I don’t want to,” the redhead commented, still sounding sweet, but he was starting to get her drift. 

“But, darling, I’m quite good at what I do,” he tried to assure her, still smiling up a storm.

“And I’m quite fine with who I have,” she replied unwavering in her tone, expression, or even stiff position in her chair. 

Lyle seemed to get Heather did not want his services, so he turned his attention back to Bonnie. Bonnie did not like him before, but the fact that he now seemed to be trying to steal her client was more than she could take. She was going to have to forget her manners around him from then on.

“Well, Bonnie, how about we go out for some lunch later on?” Lyle suggested. 

“Not even if you’re the last male creature on Earth,” Bonnie answered calmly, showing she said that quite intentionally.

Lyle had the kindness to look insulted, which only made Bonnie more pleased with what she said. He took that as a signal to leave the room. The two ladies laughed a bit.

“You sure told him,” Heather said with a chuckle. 

“He’s a dick,” Bonnie grumbled.

Heather glanced at the space Lyle once occupied. “I can tell.”

They went back to talking business, which was fine by Bonnie. There was still something off about what was going on with Heather. There was just something about her posture that bothered Bonnie. The way she eyed Bonnie and leaned on the desk seemed like she was trying to be alluring. The way she licked her lip or nibbled her nail as she spoke, as if she was trying to draw attention to her mouth, which was getting to be quite a bit. 

“How about we go to lunch now?” Bonnie suggested after Heather’s behavior persisted throughout the morning. She wished she had other things to do than entertain Heather, but without being a gopher, she was essentially getting paid to sit there and babysit.

“Delightful. I’m sure we’ll have a great time,” Heather replied lightly, smiling as she spoke.

“Yeah,” Bonnie muttered. She was not feeling good about things, but she figured she would feel much better if they were at least not trapped in her tiny office. She hoped she was just being paranoid, but only time would tell.

Lunch was not that time, though. And to make matters worse, the flirting only seemed to get more blatant. Bonnie just made an effort to keep things as professional as possible. It took a lot out of her, but at least her client was happy. She left lunch with a confident feeling that there was going to be some business in her future, but she would have to make it through a lot of crap first. In that sense, it was actually better than her first week at the firm.

-8-8-8-8-

Kim was at the museum again that night. She had been pleasantly surprised when she found Cali waiting for her at the front steps. She took the cat in with her again. It was just like last night and Kim suspected it was going to be like that for the whole week. Well, at least she had Cali and she had her girlfriends. 

“You guys are the best company,” Kim said to Cali as she snuggled into Kim’s lap. The cat was asleep quickly after sharing Kim’s dinner. Kim made a phone call after that.

-8-8-8-8-

Shego spoke with Kim while she searched the building, making sure the security system was running properly. She still could not shake the feeling that she was being watched. She could not figure out why, but she had some theories. There was something familiar about the way the feeling was close to tangible, like it made the air around her heavy, and how it lasted an exact time, which was two hours. She did not like what her mind came up with because it could mean trouble. 

“Just when I get my life in order,” Shego sighed, shaking her head as if she was trying to rid herself of the thoughts coming to mind.

“What happened?” Kim asked over the phone.

“Nothing, cupcake. Don’t worry about it. How’s things going on your end?” Shego asked. No reason to worry Kimmie just yet. After all, she could just being paranoid or she could handle this problem on her own.

“Boring. Did Bonnie come in yet?”

“No, she called and said she’ll be in late,” Shego reported. She wished she had not gotten that phone call. She wanted Bonnie to come in so she could figure out if the thought of being watched was all in her mind or if it was something Bonnie would feel, too. 

“Why?”

“Doing work for a client.”

“What client? What kinda work?” Kim pressed, sounding something like anxious, eager, and very nosy. She wanted details because all she was doing was sitting in the museum and petting a sleeping Cali. 

Rolling her eyes, Shego snorted. “I don’t know. I didn’t ask for her life story.”

“Why not?” 

“Why would I? It’s good that she’s got work to get done. I’m sure she’s happy with it and I’m happy for her. She deserves it.”

Kim could not argue that one. Before long, Bonnie was on the line, too. Kim pressed her with all of the questions about why she was working late. Bonnie answered nonchalantly, but it did not get past Shego that Bonnie never did say the name of her client whenever Bonnie brought the woman up.

-*-(New day)-*-

“Princess, today, we’re checking on Bon-bon,” Shego said as they were about to go out for lunch. They were going by themselves once again because Bonnie was having lunch with her client.

“Checking on her?” Kim echoed with a scrunched up face. “Why? She seems fine. After all, she’s busy with work and everything, right?”

“Yeah, she seems fine. We’re just going to run a little check,” Shego insisted, trying to sound like it was nothing but failing because she wanted to do something weird.

“Okay, okay, okay. Well, do you know where she is?” Kim asked. 

“No, but that’s no problem. We’ll call and ask. If push comes to shove, nerdlinger can track her.”

“Don’t call Wade that,” Kim scolded her.

Shego snorted and waved Kim off. They found out where Bonnie was through a simple phone call. Kim wondered why Shego did not tell their lover that they were headed toward her, but she did not say anything about it. She hated to think what was going through Shego’s mind.

“Shego…” Kim started, but she was not sure what she wanted to say. “We love Bonnie and Bonnie loves us,” she pointed out lamely. 

“I know,” Shego said.

“She wouldn’t… you know…” Kim insisted. Bonnie would never do something that would hurt them or their relationship. She just was not like that. 

“I know.”

Kim was puzzled, which might explain why her face scrunched up for a moment. “Then… why?”

“I want to give her a chance to be completely open with us rather than keep going on about ‘her client’ without giving this woman a name. She’s been dancing around it to the point that it’s getting on my nerves. So, I figure we just confront her about it and she’ll let it out and then we can all move on with our lives,” the pale woman explained. 

Kim’s brow remained wrinkled. “Why not just do it at home? Why do we have to go through all of this?”

“Just sit back and watch, Princess.”

Kim sighed and shook her head because she did not understand. They drove to a little café and had no problem finding their lover. They probably would have preferred not to have found her, considering the fact that she was with Heather. Their jaws practically hit the floor as they watched the two from a distance. Their stealth mentalities took over before they even realized it and watched much of the lunch from a good hiding place across the street. 

“What the hell is she doing with Heather?” Kim grumbled in a low tone.

“You know that woman?” Shego asked with an arched eyebrow.

“I met her in high school when this guy planned on doing a movie about my life and doing the hero thing. She was going to play me and she was following me around, being all annoying and everything. Bonnie was into her then.” 

“Looks into her now, too,” Shego commented with a scowl as they watched Heather touching Bonnie’s hand.

“No… Hell, Bonnie hates most of her movies now,” Kim argued, more trying to convince herself of things than her lover.

“Don’t worry, Princess. We’ll get to the bottom of this,” Shego said in a comforting tone. She was not thinking on the same negative lines as Kim, but she was curious as to why Bonnie was having such a casual lunch with her “client.”

-8-8-8-8-

Bonnie was surprised that both of her girlfriends were home when she came in. They allowed her to come in and get comfortable. When she came into the living room, they started in on her.

“How was lunch?” Kim inquired with some edge in her voice. She was still dressed in her street clothes because she had to step out in a little while. She stood by the couch instead of sitting on it. 

“Fine…” Bonnie answered in a drawn out tone with a raised eyebrow. She thought that Kim was acting strangely.

“How was your client?” Kim continued on.

“Fine… Okay, wait, where were you guys today?” Bonnie asked. She could read between the lines just as well as they could, so she gathered from the redhead’s attitude that they knew how her lunch went and they got the wrong idea about things.

“You know where we were. What’s going on, Duchess?” Shego inquired from her space on the sofa. She stared at Bonnie hard. 

“Look, Heather’s my first client. I didn’t want to say anything because I know Kim hates her,” Bonnie said.

“It’s not hate. I just think she’s annoying,” Kim defended herself, pointing to herself as she spoke. She thoroughly disliked the word “hate” now considering the last time she used the word. She had done something then that she regretted, especially now. She glanced at Shego for a moment. 

“And what was with that lunch?” the eldest of the trio inquired.

Bonnie sighed and looked away, nibbling her bottom lip briefly. “That’s Heather’s idea. She’s very… friendly.”

Kim and Shego frowned, knowing exactly what the term “friendly” referred to. Like hell they were going to let some Hollywood harlot try to get friendly with their lover! They did not care if the woman was Bonnie’s client. 

“You better not let her get _too_ friendly,” Kim practically ordered.

“To hell with that. I’ll go find her right now and make stop trying to get friendly!” Shego declared as she hopped up from her spot on the couch.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, love, calm down,” Bonnie said to Shego. “I’m not going to do anything with her. I just need to make sure everything goes smoothly with her and then they’ll trust me around the firm to handle real work. Don’t fuck this up for me,” she pled, her eyes close to watering, her eyebrows curled upward, and her mouth dropped into a deep pout. 

Shego sighed and sucked her teeth. How the hell was she supposed to get anything done with Bonnie looking at her like that? She flung herself onto the sofa and scowled deeply, resenting the fact that she could not teach Heather to stay away from her duchess. She punched her fist into her palm.

“Just bear through this with me, loves. Please,” Bonnie implored them, still appearing near pathetic. 

Kim and Shego sighed. They both looked away for a moment. They then went to Bonnie and embraced her from opposite sides. They held her lovingly.

“We’re here for you, baby,” Kim promised in a low tone. She then placed a gentle kiss on Bonnie’s neck. 

“Just don’t let this desire to get ahead cost you anything,” Shego said.

“I won’t. I just need to get through this. I need to get back to practicing law,” Bonnie told them. She needed law like they needed martial arts. 

“We know,” Kim assured her. They all had their work and they all pretty much loved their jobs. Kim and Shego knew how they would feel if they suddenly could not teach their classes anymore, so they imagined Bonnie not being able to practice law was like that, meaning that Bonnie was a little dead on the inside. 

“But, like I said, don’t let it cost you anything. Remember, you’re the legal rottweiler. You don’t need them to validate you,” Shego said, brushing some of Bonnie’s hair back.

Bonnie nodded and smiled a little. She was glad that did not go as bad as she knew it could. She was able to relax now, happy to have that off of her chest. 

With that out of the way, Kim left the apartment. She was done with her guard duty, but she just wanted to check around the museum and make sure everything was okay. Well, there was that and she wanted to check on her little calico cat, too. After all, Cali had been there waiting for her every day that week, so she thought the cat would be there again. Her girlfriends knew that.

“Maybe we should let her just have the cat,” Bonnie suggested as she joined Shego on the sofa.

“No, no, no. Don’t give into her passive-aggressive trick. She thinks just because she runs out every night to go feed that cat, we’ll give in,” Shego pointed out. 

“I know, but I’d rather her being here for the night than her running off to feed a stray cat,” Bonnie argued.

“She’ll be fine. She’ll feed the cat a few times and then one day she’ll go up there and it won’t be there and this’ll be done,” Shego said dismissively. 

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Now, you,” Shego said.

“Me?”

“You really scared Kimmie today. She thought the worst for a second. Now, I’m not sure why she did considering I figure you’re the last one out of us to cheat, but I guess she just thought about when she was falling for me and still with you. So, next time, just like you always tell me, be open with us. You don’t have to worry about a bad reaction or something,” Shego said, throwing her arms around Bonnie.

Bonnie snuggled in close to Shego. “I’m sorry. I’m just bugging out. I mean, I know Kim can’t stand Heather and then she was like hitting on me and I really just need a client right now…” She shook her head, not sure what she wanted to say. 

Shego caressed her arm. “It’s okay, Duchess. We’re here for you.”

“Kimmie really thought I was cheating?” Bonnie asked in a low voice.

“Well, I might have added to her suspicion by being secretive in why I wanted to follow you. I’m sure if I acted differently, she wouldn’t have jumped to that right away. So, it was sort of my bad,” Shego admitted sheepishly. 

“And why did you want to follow me?” She stared at Shego hard with those intimidating turquoise eyes.

Shego shrugged a little to downplay her actions. “You were acting weird.”

“Aw, and you were worried about me!” Bonnie teased, snuggling her head into Shego’s collarbone.

“Was not!” Shego huffed on instinct. 

“Sweetness,” Bonnie said in a commanding voice.

“Fine, I was,” Shego confessed while pressing Bonnie closer to her. 

Bonnie smiled because of those words. She was glad Shego was starting drop the tough girl act, at least while they were alone in the house. As soon as that thought entered her mind, Bonnie suddenly got the feeling like they were not alone. The air suddenly felt thick, not crushing, but just enough for her to notice the change. It was quite odd and a little disturbing.

“Shego,” Bonnie said in a whisper. 

“Yeah?” Shego asked.

“Is the security system on?” 

“Yeah. Why do you ask?” Shego countered. Was that feeling not just in her mind? Did Bonnie feel it, too?

“Something doesn’t feel right,” Bonnie replied. 

Shego sighed in relief. “Glad to know it’s not just me.” She had been feeling that heavy air and like she was being watched all week while Kim was out doing guard duty and Bonnie was working late or out to dinner.

“Yeah, well, what’re we going to do about it?” 

“I haven’t thought of that yet. Maybe we’ll do some investigating when Kimmie gets back,” Shego answered. She figured once they were all under one roof, she would be able to figure out who the target was because she was pretty sure now that she knew what was going on. Hey, after having that feeling for a week, she had boiled it down to one probable cause.

“Okay,” Bonnie agreed. She figured Shego knew more about what was going on since she had the feeling before. She hoped Shego did have a plan.

-8-8-8-8-

A pair of eyes peered off of the museum roof. “Kim?” 

The hero was walking up to the museum steps with a bag in her hand. She called for Cali when she got to the front stairs. Usually the cat came from behind one of the many columns lining the front of the museum, but she did not appear when called. She did not think anything of it and called for the cat again.

“Cali,” she called a few more times, but still she got nothing.

Just when Kim was about to give up, a meow echoed and Cali emerged. Kim smiled and sat down next to the feline. Cali rubbed her head into Kim’s leg, signaling a desire to be petted. Kim obliged, caressing the feline’s neck and back.

“Look what I have here,” Kim said to the cat.

The hero pulled out a can of tune for the feline, which Cali looked at for a moment and then made a sound that seemed to show her approval. She opened that with her laser lipstick. She set the can down for Cali and then went into her bag again. Cali went to the can to merrily eat the fish, making content little sounds as she devoured the goods, while Kim pulled out a small bowl. She put the bowl down and then pulled out a little carton of milk for the cat. 

“There ya go, Cali,” Kim said with a smile.

Cali mewed, pleased with the gifts. The cat went back and forth from the food to the drink. Kim gently petted the feline’s back as she feasted on the presents. Their moment was ended as an alarm went off inside of the museum. Kim went into action automatically.

“I’ll be right back, Cali,” Kim called to the cat as she dashed off into the closed museum.

The cat unleashed a sorrowful meow that Kim did not hear. The redhead raced through the museum and found the cause of the alarm. Dementor was in the museum, robbing it of the artifact she had just spent the last week guarding. It was supposed to be packed up and out of the city, but apparently that was not in the cards for some reason. 

“Stop right there, Professor Dementor!” Kim ordered as she raced into the room.

“Kim Possible!” Dementor shouted, actually surprised to see her if the sound of his voice and the look on his face meant anything.

“Um… yeah,” the hero replied in a “duh” sort of voice. She did not see why he was acting so shocked that she was there. They had done the dance countless times now. 

“You’re not supposed to be here now,” he stated, pointing down to the floor to indicate he meant the building they were in.

“I’m not?” Kim was curious as to why he would say a thing like that. How would he know where she was supposed to be?

“No!” he screamed for no reason other than that was his thing. 

“Okay, Dementor, how about you just put the artifact down and I won’t stomp you further into the ground,” she remarked with a confident smirk as she got into her fighting stance. _Oh, that was kinda mean. Shego’s rubbing off on me_. 

“I don’t think so. Get her!”

Kim wondered who the hell Dementor was ordering to get her. He was the only person around from what she could tell. She scanned the area just to be certain and she sure that they were the only two people around.

“Um… Yeah, just put the thing down,” Kim commanded in a forceful tone.

“What the?” Dementor muttered in a puzzled voice when Kim was not attacked. He looked around. “You useless fish-eating misfit!” he hollered at the top of his lungs in anger. 

Kim was confused for a second and charged toward Dementor, intending to just snatch the artifact from him. She doubted it would be a difficult thing to just take the stone from him since he was not in the best shape. She was not too sure what he wanted with the slab, except maybe to use it for a ransom, but she was not going to let him walk out of that museum with it. Before she got to him, she was tackled around the waist from the side with remarkable force.

The hero grunted from the force of the impact and coughed when she hit the tiled floor. She looked up to see what had hit her and was surprised to see a smiling face above her. The face was tanned, maybe like an orange, almost like terra cotta. The eyes were wide and a bright yellow, shining merrily. The dark hair, close to black but mixed with brown, rained down onto Kim, touching the floor. She then noticed something very curious on top of her assailant’s head – a pair of large, triangular ears. Her attacker then meowed.

“Hi,” the tackler said with a girlish giggle.

Before Kim could say anything, something quite odd happened. The person who hit her leaned down and licked her cheek. Kim went rigid and flung the person off of her. She locked eyes with her foe as she landed and noticed how graceful her enemy landed. When she stood straight up, Kim got to see that she was dealing with a girl who did not appear to be exactly human. 

“You’re a cat-girl?” Kim said incredulously. She knew the term thanks to her brothers, cousin, and even Ron. Between the anime, comics, and video games that they all engaged in, she had seen more than her fair share of cat-girls.

“That’s right,” the newcomer grinned proudly, a small meow coming out after her words. She then winked at the hero. She was wearing a black sort of one-piece swimsuit as clothing, but other than that, she was showing off her cat-girl-ness. She had a long pumpkin-colored tail with a touch of white at the end. She had large paws for hands and feet. Her right hand was covered in the same color fur as her hair and that went up to her elbow. Her left foot was also covered in the same color, which went up to her ankle. Her left hand and right foot were covered in white fur.

“Get her!” Dementor hollered, pointing at Kim.

Kim remembered Dementor, so she turned around quickly to make sure he did not get away. She reached into her pocket and decided to show Dementor a new toy of hers. She pitched a small, handball-sized sphere at him before she was tackled again by the cat-girl. She grunted on impact once more.

The ball split open and appeared like a spider’s body now. The eight limbs grew out the ball and clenched around Dementor, holding his arms firmly against his torso while hitting him with a hard force. He and Kim hit the ground at the same time. He happened to drop the stone and it slid a few feet away from him. 

“I like this spot,” the cat-girl commented with a smile as she sort of cuddled into Kim’s neck. _So comfortable_ , she thought with a purr.

“Hey!” Kim protested to the treatment. She was not some cat-girl’s cuddle toy! She tried to peel the cat-girl off of her, but her foe was content and refused to be moved. _Wow, she’s strong_. It would have worried her if she was not Kim Possible.

“Hey, you lousy mouse-catching flea bag, get over here and help me!” Dementor ordered heatedly, kicking his tiny legs back and forth.

The cat-girl pouted and let out a sorrowful mew. She snuggled into the struggling Kim for a moment more. She dared to lick the hero one more time too before leaping off of Kim. The adventurer was on her feet in a flash and took off after the cat-girl. They were going after different prizes, though. The cat-girl grabbed Dementor while Kim grabbed the artifact. The cat-girl carried Dementor and easily leaped through a high skylight.

“Where are you going, you rotten tuna-breath stray!” Dementor yelled. “We need to get the artifact to find out if it’s true and if not, we can sell it back to these fools!” he pointed out, flailing in her arms a bit, trying to get her to put him down.

“I hear the cops coming. They’re close. And my name is Cali,” she hissed with an attitude, continuing to flee the scene, sticking to nearby rooftops. She did not look very pleased with having to carry his ungrateful behind to safety, but she did not stop.

“You mangy freeloader, you keep acting like this and I’ll feed you to the dogs!” he threatened her. He honestly did not know why he bothered with her. She was nothing but trouble.

-8-8-8-8-

Kim could not wait to tell her lovers about the crazy time that she just had. She wondered if they would even believe her since she was going to tell about the cat-girl. She thought they would get a kick out of the story, even though she was not sure why she thought that.

“Hey, loves,” Kim said as she entered the apartment, but she did not get any further than that. She was grabbed and a hand put up to her mouth. She was about to fight against the hand when Bonnie came up to her. 

“Calm down. It’s just Shego,” Bonnie told the redhead.

Kim turned around to see that it was Shego holding her. Kim’s eyes demanded an explanation. She would have one.

“We’ve got a spy,” Shego whispered. The heavy feeling in the air was still around and she believed it would be around for another hour if they did not get something going to stop it. 

“A spy?” Kim muttered through her lover’s pale hand. She then started looking around, but she did not see anything out of the ordinary. She was starting to feel the odd, thick sensation that her other lovers were experiencing, though.

“Yes. Now, we’re going to do a little hunt. Unfortunately, we all have to be the bait to figure out who the spy wants. Ready?” 

Kim nodded and Shego released her. Shego then announced to the air, but made it seem like she was talking to her girlfriends that they needed to search the building to make sure it was empty. They all exited the apartment. It was funny they all had the same hope, which was that Bonnie was not the target.

Their hopes were answered, as it turned out that Kim was the target, which explained why there had not been an attack until now. Kim had never been home when the suspected spy seemed to be around. The redhead decided to search the roof since she would also be able to see the perimeter of the building from the side, thus checking two places at once. As soon as she hit the roof, she found herself being attacked by the plants that they were keeping up there for their garden.

“Could this night get any weirder?” Kim asked the air as she dodged the flora, which transformed before her eyes into much more menacing looking versions of themselves. “Damn it, I told Bonnie we didn’t need all these plants!” she complained as she avoided being bitten by a few flowers.

“Now, now, now. Why don’t you just sit still? This’ll be quick and painless if you do,” a voice commented.

Kim looked around to locate the voice, but did not see anything. “Where are you? Who are you? You sound familiar,” she noted. She could not place the voice exactly, but her brain quickly associated the noise with something negative inside of her. She felt anger toward the owner of the voice without even knowing who it was.

“Who I am doesn’t matter. Why don’t you just give in and give up, so I can go in there and get the other one.” 

“The other one?” Kim echoed with a grunt as she continued to move out of the way of the now dangerous plant life. “If you want Shego, you’re going to be in for a fun little dance and you’re out of your mind if you think we’ll let you near Bonnie!”

“We’ll see about that.” The voice was haughty and laughed.

“Damn it, when I find you, you’re going to regret even thinking about touching Bonnie or Shego!” Kim practically roared, a fierce look on her face. 

“We’ll see about that one, too.”

“You jackass!” Kim snarled and then she was caught by one of the plants. A vine with thorns came out of nowhere and wrapped around her leg. It began to squeeze around her leg tightly, biting into her lower limb worse than a bear trap.

“Gotcha,” the voice said smugly. The owner of the voice materialized and Kim found out why the voice sounded so familiar.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Kim demanded with a snarl. She was currently looking at Shego’s former girlfriend and an ex-hero, Medea. 

“Looking to get her ass kicked!” Shego said while dashing onto the scene. Kim had been being so loud with the hope of catching her attention.

The super-powered woman cut through the vine that held Kim with her plasma-charged claws. She continued on after she went through the plant with ease, going right to the witch. She seemed like she was seriously going to cut through Medea, but her claws went harmlessly through the woman. If it were not for her magical powers, Shego would have just seriously injured Medea. Medea gasped and stared at Shego with wide, shocked eyes.

“Shego, what are you doing?” Medea asked as if she were hurt that Shego had gone after her. Her expression seemed genuinely wounded, her mouth opened slightly and her eyes still open all the way.

“You’re messing with my damn family. You know how I feel about that kinda shit!” Shego replied in fury as she reached out and managed to grab the witch by her collar. Medea winced when she was caught and flinched, even though Shego did not even do anything to her yet.

While Shego was dealing with their intruder, Bonnie came out to check on Kim. She had also heard Kim’s yelling, but she had been on the bottom floor, so it took her longer to get there. The plants had finally stopped moving. Bonnie found Kim to just be out of breath and a few small gashes on her calf, but she still fussed over the hero as if she suffered some grave injury. They then turned their attention Shego and Medea to see what was going on with those two. 

“Stop trying to use your damn magic!” Shego ordered the witch as she shook her slightly, careful not to rip the bit of shirt that she held to make sure Medea did not get away. “We both know you have a limited amount of energy and time for you to use your powers and this shit you pulled with Kimmie drained you after you spied on us for over a fucking hour. Now, what hell are you doing here?” she demanded.

“I… I… I…” Medea stammered because she was seriously surprised by Shego’s anger. She also could not believe how the former hero was manhandling her. It was a first. 

“Hey, what’s that bitch doing here?” Bonnie demanded as she realized just who Medea was.

“That’s what I’m trying to find out,” Shego pointed out without turning away from Medea. “Well?” she growled. 

“I just… I just wanted you back,” Medea replied in a gentle tone. Her face was sort of pleading with Shego to not hurt her and to come back with her.

“Oh, and you think using your powers to try to take Kimmie out and then probably move against Bonnie after that is going to impress me? I love them! I loathe you! Doing anything to them is only going to make me loathe you more! So, what the fuck are you even thinking about? You’re worse than when we were goddamn kids!” Shego hollered, thumping Medea in the forehead a few times with her knuckle. What kind of sick, twisted logic could Medea possibly be using to think that she would go back to the witch if she did something to Kim? 

The witch tried to pull away from Shego’s abusive knuckle, but she could get far. The thumping stopped after a few hits. Once the pain halted, Medea went to answer the question, hoping to avoid any more abuse from her former girlfriend.

“You’ll realize soon enough that I’m better than they are,” Medea replied with conviction. Her eyes were hard now beyond anything Shego had ever seen.

“Nothing is better than they are,” Shego stated firmly. She had always suspected something was wrong with Medea, beyond her wanting to live in the closer forever, but this was more than she ever anticipated. 

“You’ll see. I’ll get you back. I’ll be your princess again,” the witch commented and then she mustered enough energy to vanish.

Shego growled in a fury that a danger to her girlfriends got away so easily. She then remembered the plant had caught Kim, so she went to go check on her. The redhead was fine for the most part, except for the cuts on her leg. Once Kim’s status was established as stable, they all embraced each other, sighing content as they held one another.

“Sweetness, are we going to have to worry about her now?” Bonnie inquired, sounding a bit concerned. 

“Not for a while. She’s going to need some time to recharge after using her magic so much today. It’s not easy for her to animate and transform things. We’ll figure out how to keep her out and anyone else with magic in the morning,” Shego replied.

“I’ll get Wade on it too,” Kim offered. 

“Sounds good. Let’s go back in now,” Shego suggested.

“Yeah, we can make sure Kimmie’s all right and not just faking it,” Bonnie said and she was being serious. Shego nodded in agreement. 

Kim sucked her teeth, but she knew arguing with them was not going to get her anywhere. When they got into the apartment and had better lighting, they were able to see Kim’s leg was also bruised from where she was held by the plant. She could not help groaning and moping as her lovers took care of her bruises and cuts. They cleaned the wounds and bandaged her up. She never even got the chance to tell them about what happened earlier that night in the museum.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: more Dementor, more cat-girl, and a Rockwaller family gathering no one will forget.


	14. Donut Hole

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. I don’t own fig newtons either. 
> 
> Sorry that this took so long. Thanks to Nuki Mouse of the ideas that appear in this chapter.
> 
> A/N: Just to refresh yourself of the Rockwaller family, you might wanna see chapter 3. If not, carry on.

14: Donut Hole

“Where’s Kimmie?” Bonnie asked Shego in a worried tone with an expression to match.

Shego was laid out on the sofa, one hand dangling off like she did not have a care in the world. Bonnie was still in her work clothes because she just got in from another long day at the firm. It was too quiet in her opinion for both of her lovers to be home and when she got to the living room, she figured she found out which one was missing.

“She went back to the museum,” Shego answered as she picked herself up off of the sofa. She wore house-clothes, which consisted of a well-worn green tank top and black shorts. She took powerful strides over to Bonnie and greeted the lawyer properly with a deep kiss, which Bonnie eagerly returned. 

Bonnie was breathless for a moment when she and Shego pulled apart. Shego held Bonnie close while the tanned beauty caught her breath. Bonnie did not object to the contact, having to fight the urge to sigh contently. She did not want to give Shego the ego boast of knowing that such innocent touching had a deep affect on her. Little did she know, but the former thief was well aware of what her touch did to both of her girlfriends.

“What was that for? You miss me?” Bonnie teased, her chest heaving some.

Shego scoffed. “Just bored. Kimmie ran out of here like her ass was on fire after we were done with classes and there’s nothing on TV.”

“She’s looking for that cat again?” the lawyer asked in a low tone brought on by being short of breath.

Shego sighed, sounding quite annoyed, and waved her hand a bit as her answer. She turned away, heading back to the sofa. She did not verbally reply because Kim was not doing what she predicted the redhead would do in regards to that cat. She figured Kim would forget about the cat, but Kim had been going up to the museum for almost two weeks now to feed a stray cat. The thing was that the cat was not showing up anymore and Kim was not giving up in looking for the creature.

“Sweetie, I think we should’ve just let her have the cat,” Bonnie said, still standing in the living room entrance. She was going to go take a shower before curling up on the sofa to watch her stories. She hoped Kim was back by then.

“We shouldn’t give into her all the time! That’s how we got stuck together, after all,” Shego remarked with an amused smirk on her face as she flopped down onto the couch.

“Oh, but I like we’re all together and I like spoiling her,” Bonnie countered in a cutesy voice, which earned her a disturbed look from the older woman.

“Don’t do that again,” Shego commanded with a scowl. Her duchess was not supposed to be so completely and utterly girly and she never wanted to see or hear Bonnie do something like that again.

“What, this? But, I like spoiling our little princess!” Bonnie added clasping her hands together and a wide-eyed expression to go along with the cutesy, childish voice.

“Damn it, Duchess, cut it out!” Shego growled while making a tight fist, even though she did not look menacing. She was more pleading with the shorter female to stop.

“But, I do!” And to top things off, Bonnie dipped into her ballet training, standing on her toes and twirling around. She then had to dodge a throw pillow.

“Knock it off. That shit is scary,” Shego said, holding another pillow just in case Bonnie wanted to continue to test her.

Bonnie chuckled a bit, walking away with a pleased smirk on her face as she went to take her shower. She was serious about spoiling Kim and wishing they just let Kim keep the cat when she was hinting toward it over two weeks ago. It was not that she changed her mind really on them being ready for pets, but she just did not like Kim out at night, traveling all the way to the museum just to feed a cat. She never liked Kim out at night on her own, but now it was worse.

“Well, it seems worse anyway,” Bonnie muttered to herself. Kim’s life had always been a muddle of weirdness and danger, but it seemed so close now.

There was so much going on in their lives that Bonnie just wanted Kim in her sights at all times when the sun went down. She wanted to keep the redhead out of the clutches of the journalists out there that were looking to ruin Kim for profit. She wanted to keep Kim away from any people out there that might attack her, physically or verbally, over issues that were not the people’s business anyway. And lastly, Bonnie wanted to make sure that Kim was safe from Shego’s nutty ex-girlfriend.

Shego’s former lover, Medea, had attacked them two weeks. The witch woman had spied on them and then tried to kill Kim all in the hopes of winning Shego back. Now, the witch’s logic did not make much sense to any of them, even Bonnie and she thought she would understand many odd reactions to love considering how she reacted to loving Kim at first. Shego had actually taken the whole attack the worst, so if anything Medea shot herself in the foot, so to speak, with her actions.

Still, the attack left Bonnie more shaken about Kim being out at night. At least if the redhead was in the house, they could keep an eye on her and she would be safe. Shego had made sure to go out and find someway to protect against Medea’s magic. She had actually gotten a little crept out because she talked to her parents about it and both of them seemed to know a lot of ways to protect against magic. Kim was equally weirded out when Wade and her brothers found all sorts of things on the Internet. Bonnie was not sure how to take things.

Bonnie did not doubt her lovers or their contacts, but she was not too sure if she believed the guards against magic. Of course, she had not believed in magic at all until Medea and then Kim shared some stories about her experiences with magic as well. So, apparently, magic was a legitimate threat… who knew? She supposed she would only be assured the wards worked when Medea came around, as they knew she would, and it was clear that she could not get in or use her powers against them.

-8-8-8-8-

Shego glanced at Bonnie as she marched off for her shower. As soon as she heard the door close, her demeanor dropped a little. Glancing out of the window, taking in the dark night, she wished Kim stayed home as well.

“Uh, why is everything so goddamn complicated all the time?” she groaned.

Secretly, Shego was worried about Medea, just like Bonnie did. She did not really want to talk about it, though. Kim and Bonnie tried to do so, but she brushed them off and just went to find something to protect them against magic, just like how they built security to protect them from physical danger.

She worried about her lovers’ safety, of course, but she was more worried about Bonnie than Kim. She was more than aware that Kim could take care of herself, even against Medea and her witch powers. Kim always found a way.

Bonnie was another story, though. While Bonnie was capable of fighting her own battles, she was not a fighter. If Kim or Shego was not there, she did not even want to think about what could happen.

“What if Bonnie had been here alone while that bitch was stalking the house?” The very idea made her frown more.

Shego was not sure what would happen to Bonnie if she ran into Medea. Something inside of her tried to assure her that Bonnie would take care of that demented witch, but there was still anxiety swimming through her. She hid it for a few reasons.

One, she did not want to seem nervous because to her it implied she could not take care of her younger lovers. Two, she thought her feelings showed a lack of faith in Bonnie and she liked to believe she had all sorts of faith in the attorney. Three, Kim did not seem worried about Bonnie, so she did not want to make it seem like Medea a big deal or she would cause Kim to worry. And there were many more, so Shego just tried to play it off that she was not a little nervous for Bonnie.

Now, there was a tiny bit of anxiety in the former thief toward Kim, too, but not enough to bother her. _Kimmie’ll be fine like always_. After all, Kim could keep up with her and she knew she could take Medea, so the witch was more than likely no threat to Kim, she concluded, which was why she did not think any of Kim being out at night.

“I just don’t like her wasting time looking for a damn stray cat. I mean, come on! What about me?” Shego huffed.

-8-8-8-8-

“Come on, Cali. Come out, little kitty,” Kim called as she wandered around the Middleton Museum of Natural History. She had an open can of tuna in one hand and a little carton of milk in the other. She hoped they would help lure out her missing feline.

The redhead had become rather attached to the cat over the week they had been together, so much so that she had spent the last two weeks trying to find the cat again. She was not sure how she got such a soft spot for the feline in such a short amount of time, but there was something so cute about the way Cali was there for her when she showed up, how the cat curled up to her, how the feline seemed to listen in on her phone conversations with her lovers to know what was going on between them, how the cat slept so soundly against her, and how she sometimes meowed like she was trying to add to whatever Kim was rambling on about or purring as if she wanted in on the phone conversations when they occurred. She wanted the cat back in someway, shape, or form.

“Here, kitty, kitty, kitty,” Kim beckoned, sounding close to tears as she turned a corner. She sniffled a little.

She had to seem pathetic, begging for a stray cat to come back. She knew Shego thought she was being silly for her actions, but she missed Cali and she did not care how pitiful she had to look as long as the feline returned.

“Cali, where are you?” Kim begged the air in a sorrowful tone while continuing to move about the outside of the museum.

Her expression dropped more, eyebrows curled up, mouth in a gaping moue, eyes watering. What if something happened to the stray? What if she was hurt? Worse yet, what if she was dead? Kim would be crushed. The not-knowing hurt enough, but to know that the worst had happened would break her big heart.

“Cali!” Kim hollered desperately at the top of her lungs. She was then pulled from her search as her Kimmunicator went off. She sighed, put down the carton of milk, and dug in her pocket for the currently irksome device. She answered with a surprising attitude. “What?” she huffed.

“Wow, no ‘what’s the sitch?’ This might be a first,” Wade remarked, trying his best not to laugh. Knowing Kim for as long as he had, he knew when she was stressed about something and that he needed to restrain himself or he would not help the situation.

“Sorry, Wade. I’m just…” Kim trailed off and looked away, hiding her shame for having snapped at her friend for no reason. She also wanted to hide her sorrow over a cat that was not even really hers. _She’s just a stray_. Shego reminded her of that every time she went out to look, but she could not stop looking.

“It’s okay, Kim. It’s quite all right. If you’re going through something, I can just call… someone else,” Wade sounded quite unsure of that last part. Really the only “someone else” that he could call was Ron. Ron and Yori were just as good as Kim, kind of. They took missions and all, as it was part of both of their lives that they could not give up, just like Kim. They did not go out as often as she did and they were not as efficient as she was because they were not perfectionists, well at least Ron was not.

Sighing, Kim shook her head. “No, no, no. Tell me the mission. I can go,” she insisted. She needed something to take her mind off of the heart-crushing fact that Cali might actually be gone for good.

Wade filled Kim in on the mission and got her a ride. She had to get rid of the milk and tuna before she left, but she was on her way within minutes. She was dropped off at another museum, where she was told a break-in was occurring. According to Wade, someone was trying to steal a priceless diamond.

Kim sneaked into where she needed to be and found out Wade was on point as usual. She took in the scene before charging in, seeing one body on the diamond case, apparently cutting through the display case. Then there was a short body standing not too far from the case and even in the dark, Kim knew just who that was.

“Doing some late night shopping, Professor Dementor?” Kim inquired with her usual smart-aleck smirk as she stepped in on the scene.

Both Dementor and his accomplice turned around at the sound of the familiar voice. They had two totally different reactions to the newcomer. Dementor gasped in shock and anger while his cohort grinned widely, happily.

“Kim Possible!” Dementor hollered in disbelief.

“Oh, come on. You act like you’re surprised to see me,” Kim remarked, still smiling, standing strong with a hand on her hip. 

“Get her, you mangy flea-bag!” Dementor screamed, pointing at Kim. He was ordering around his subordinate. 

The person on the case, who Kim was already familiar with, grinned even wider thanks to that command. She did not even bother to yell back at Dementor about insulting her. She merely sprang into action, getting Kim.

Kim hardly had time to move because she was tackled around the waist by a certain cat-girl. They crashed to the hard, cold floor with a yelp from the redhead and happy meow from the feline. Before Kim knew it, a furry, but soft cheek was rubbing up against her neck.

“Hi!” a merry and chipper voice greeted Kim and that was followed by a lick to her cheek.

“Cut that out!” Kim ordered, trying to pry the insane cat-girl off of her. She tried her best to sound menacing and angry, but her command came out more disturbed than anything else.

“I missed you so much!” Cali declared sincerely and she went back to rubbing her face in Kim’s neck. She purred contently against the hero, who just did not know what to make of the cat-girl’s behavior, just like the first time they met two weeks ago.

“You don’t even know me! And you’re a freaking bad guy!” Kim pointed out in a bit of a panic. Bad guys were not supposed to miss the hero! Bad guys were not supposed to rub up against the hero either, she thought… at least not during the commission of a crime anyway. It was just plain inappropriate.

“And you smell yummy,” Cali said, purring. “You feel really nice and smell good.”

“Cut it out!” Kim commanded, now trying to wiggle out of the cat-girl’s tight grip.

Cali did not seem to be paying her mind much. She was just happy snuggling up against Kim, who was not as pleased with the situation. She tried to gain some leverage, looking to flip the feline off of her. Cali smiled, knowing what the hero was trying.

“Not gonna catch me with that twice,” Cali hummed proudly. There was no way she was going to let Kim fling her away now that she was in what she believed was the most comfortable place on the planet.

Kim growled. In their first meeting Kim had been able to flip Cali off of her when the cat-girl tackled her. Now, with the way Cali pressed down on her, angling her weight in a different manner than before, it was hard to do much aside from lie there. It was all the cat-girl wanted Kim to do.

“I still like this spot,” the cat-girl muttered with a content smile, continuing to rub her cheek into Kim’s collarbone.

Kim huffed in anger, even though in the back of her mind she noted there was something familiar with the way her foe was acting. It went beyond the fact that Cali had done the same thing the first time they met a couple of weeks ago. There was something deeper than that, to the point where her lying on Kim seemed almost loving. It was not the same love as being touched by Bonnie or Shego, but it was a fond-type of caressing nonetheless.

Kim turned her attention to Dementor to see what he was doing. He was close to getting the diamond, so she knew she had to do something. The cat-girl was pressed against her arms with her own large paws, so it was a bit difficult to move. Still, Kim could do anything, so she managed to wiggle just enough to free one of her weapons from her pocket.

Cali was not paying much attention to what Kim was doing, or so it would seem. In actuality, Cali did not care what was going on around her now that she was cuddling with Kim again. So, Kim was really free to do whatever she wanted, as long as she did not move thus ruining Cali’s moment of paradise.

Kim tried to catch Dementor in the same trap as last time, looking to hit him with a sphere that would change into a sort of binding vest. She was not sure if she would be able to make a decent throw. She let it fly anyway.

Dementor was not paying too much attention to Kim since Cali had hit her, but he turned around just in time to see the sphere coming toward him. He recalled what happened to him last time, so he moved out of the way. The sphere went right by him.

“Damn it,” Kim growled and frowned.

“What in the world are you doing, you flea-bitten, trashing-eating, waste-of-scientific-mastery!” Dementor screamed at his cat-girl when he caught sight of her. He could not believe his eyes with the way that Cali was rubbing up against Kim, especially while the hero was trying to prevent him from doing what he came to do. 

Cali had just about the happiest looking smile on her face while resting on the hero. She had her yellow eyes shut as she merrily brushed her cheek against Kim. Dementor scowled deeply.

“What the hell does it take to get good help nowadays? You sick, good-for-nothing pest! Get up, we’re leaving!” the short scientist screamed, even more so than usual. His face was turning bright red because of his fury toward the troublesome cat.

“Aw!” Cali pouted, but she did not move. She wanted to stay where she was for as long as possible.

“I don’t think so, Dementor!” Kim declared and she started reaching for another weapon.

“Stop her!” Dementor commended Cali.

The cat-girl pouted deeper and pinned Kim’s arms to her side to prevent her from grabbing another weapon. Kim frowned and snarled in anger that came from being stopped. Cali then whispered something that sounded suspiciously like sorry and goodbye before leaping off of Kim within the blink of an eye.

By the time Kim realized the pressure was off of her, Cali had grabbed Dementor, who had the diamond. The villainous pair tried to escape through a high window, which was open. It was probably how they entered the place. Kim quickly grabbed for her grappling hook and aimed it at the two. She let the hook fly and hit her prize, knocking the jewel right out of Dementor’s hand.

Dementor gasped in pain and surprise as the diamond fell from his grip. “Noooooo!”

Kim was on the move before she even hit her target, so she easily got there in time to catch the gem. Cali continued on through the window and only stopped when Dementor started yelling, much too close to her sensitive ears. She screeched in pain and dropped the small man on the ledge outside.

“Ouch, you clumsy fool!” Dementor huffed, rubbing his now sore rear-end with his good hand. The other felt like it had been slammed in a car door.

“You’re hurting my ears,” Cali countered, flicking both of her ears with each paw. She also shook her head, hoping to cease the ringing in her brain.

“And what was that all about in there?” Dementor demanded to know as he took the short climb to his feet. He glared at her as if she was the foulest creature he had ever encountered. And, if not the foulest, definitely the dumbest.

“You two know that if you’re going to argue while running away, you really should keep running and do it a bit more quietly,” Kim remarked as she made her way up through the open window.

“Get rid of her!” Dementor ordered, pointing at Kim.

Cali grinned and just leaped at Kim. The redhead was now expecting the tackle and smoothly moved out of the way. Cali almost fell through the window back into the museum, but she caught the edge of the window with one hand. Kim was about to proceed over to Dementor when Cali flipped back up, catching Kim around the waist. Unfortunately, she had not totally worked out her momentum for the move.

“Crap,” Kim hissed as her body moved out of her control.

The cat-girl pushed Kim forward and the hero hit Dementor. They all went plummeting off the side of the museum, but they were luckily not high up. They landed in some well-pruned, very lush bushes. Kim noted it did not feel like any other landing that she had ever had in shrubby and then she figured out why.

“This is almost as good as lying on you,” Cali purred as she wrapped her arms around Kim’s chest and rubbed her cheek into Kim’s shoulder blade. Cali was underneath Kim; the redhead had landed on her during the fall.

“This is ridiculous,” Kim muttered with an exasperated expression on her face. Why the hell was the cat-girl so interested in her, anyway?!

“You stupid alley cat! How dare you catch Kim Possible instead of me!” Dementor complained loudly. His legs were sticking out the top of a nearby bush, kicking back and forth.

Cali chuckled a bit when she saw how Dementor was stuck. She rolled out from underneath Kim, landing on all fours. She stretched out like the cat that she was, claws coming out of her front paws. She rolled her shoulders and yawned before turning her attention to Kim.

“Hope to see you again soon,” Cali said in a chipper tone with a bright smile.

“Hey, I’m not just letting you get away,” Kim pointed out as she pulled herself out of the plant.

“Then chase us, please,” Cali requested, still smiling, as she grabbed her boss and took off.

Kim took her up on that offer and went after the fleeing pair. She found out she was no match for the cat’s speed and she was not wearing a jetpack to go after Cali once the feline decided to take to the rooftops. This was one of the problems with taking a mission out of the blue. The bad guys got away that night, much to Kim’s annoyance.

“Damn it,” Kim grumbled as she watched the tiny orange/black dot that was Cali disappear into the night. To make matters worse, she was going to be home late and she knew her girlfriends were going to chew her out for that. She threw her hands up. “It’s not my night.”

-8-8-8-8-

“What in the world was that!” Dementor demanded from Cali while he was still recovering from his fall. He plucked branches and leaves off of his small form as they stopped on a rooftop.

Cali did not respond. She settled down on all fours again and stretched out. She yawned, tongue coming out for a moment between her inch-long, pearl white canine teeth. She then laid on the cold roof almost as if she was going to take a nap, folding her arms and resting her head on her paws.

“Well?” Dementor screamed, not enjoying her silence by a long shot.

“It was cuddling,” Cali answered with a dreamy smile as she closed her eyes. She liked cuddling Kim and she wished she could have done it all night along. It would have been nice if Kim petted her while she was doing. “Kim has such soft, nice fingers,” she mumbled to herself as the thought of being petted washed over her body. She purred as she imagined that delightful feeling.

“You do _not_ cuddle with the enemy and Kim Possible is the enemy!” he informed her, as if she did not know. But, from her behavior, he would be surprised if she did know who their enemy was.

“Cuddling is nice,” Cali purred, still wearing her dreamy smile. She wished she was still snuggled up close to the hero.

Dementor frowned. “What the hell do you even know about this cuddling crap? Who taught you that?”

Cali shrugged. She did not feel like telling him, but Kim taught her. A low purr escaped her as she remembered the first time she felt those arms around her and how safe she felt. It had been such a long time. She wanted that all the time now.

“Well?” he shouted again, but she still did not answer. Maybe she had fallen asleep, which would not do. They needed to really get away before Kim Possible caught up to them.

He wished he had something to hit her with right now from the way that she was acting. She always got on his nerves, but now she was going beyond that by snuggling with the enemy. _I’ll have to do something about her soon_ , he thought. There was only so much he could take from a stupid cat, after all.

“Come on, get up, you mouse-breathed, good-for-nothing,” Dementor snapped once he was done getting all of the twigs off of his body.

“How many times do I have to tell you? My name is Cali!” she hissed in anger. She was quite tempted to slash him with her thick, sharp, inch-and-a-half long claws until he figured out how to use her proper name.

“Since when!” he shouted back in a furious tone, a vein popping out of his neck from frustration with her. He was sick of her telling him about her. “No one’s ever given you a name before, you worthless wretch! I know because I’ve been here with you since the beginning! No one cares what to call you! So, stop telling me you’ve got anything when you don’t! You have nothing and you are nothing! Be grateful I haven’t euthanized you, yet.”

“I do have a name! I got one and you’re going to use it or I’m going to fucking claw your goddamn eyes out!” Cali replied as her eyes shot open to show her fury. She stood up, still on all fours and eyed him like a tiger looking at a deer. Part of her wanted to tear him apart, having learned there were better places to be in the world, but another part of her stopped her. Instincts forced her back.

Dementor gasped and stepped back for a moment. He had never heard such abusive language from her. His eyes then flashed with fury.

“Where did you pick up such words?” he demanded, sounding almost like an outraged father.

“None of your fucking business,” she replied. The swears were recent additions to her vocabulary. She picked them up about three weeks ago through a few long phone conversations that went on between her current favorite person in the world and two other women. She figured out the words were used more for emphasis than anything else. Most of the time she heard them, they did not sound nearly as harsh as they did coming from her. She believed the woman using them most often was named Shego.

Dementor sucked his teeth in anger. “Well, your little acting out tonight cost us that diamond. I needed that diamond for my latest invention. You ruined it!”

Cali rolled her eyes. According to him, she ruined everything. She did not care anymore, not that she ever cared. It was all part of the beauty of being a cat.

“Let’s go back to the lair and try to find another diamond that’ll work,” Dementor stated with an attitude. He frowned deeply.

Cali could not care less than a damn about his expression or his diamond. She followed him over to the next rooftop as he went to his escape vehicle, which was a small hovercraft that only one person could fit in. He hopped in and waited for her.

Cali rolled her shoulders and remained down on all fours. She was momentarily still and then she was covered in a bright orange flame. When the flames vanished, where Cali had been was a regular, rather small calico cat.

“Will you come on before I leave you?” Dementor ordered in a harsh tone, glaring at the irksome feline.

The cat leaped up to the craft’s open cockpit and settled into the small space that was left. Dementor took off before she was even probably seated. She curled up into a tight ball and decided to fall asleep before he started hollering some more.

“I swear, sometimes she’s not worth the trouble, even if she is pretty much the ultimate sidekick,” Dementor grumbled under his breath.

-8-8-8-8-

“Thank goodness you’re home!” Bonnie practically cried as she flung herself onto Kim, who had barely stepped through the front door before she was hit.

“Where the fuck have you been?” Shego demanded with a tense face and her eyebrows bent in. She glared at Kim from less than a foot away while Bonnie just pressed herself closer to the redhead.

“I’m sorry, guys. I got a mission,” Kim explained lamely. She had the decency to look ashamed of herself at least. She should have called while she was on her way to the museum, but it had been such a short ride, she did not think she had the time.

“And why the fuck didn’t you call?” Shego added, folding her arms across her chest and pointing her hip out a bit. She tried her best to ignore the faint blush that accompanied Kim’s thoroughly guilty expression.

“I’m sorry. I just wasn’t thinking, loves. I’m so sorry,” Kim apologized from the bottom of her heart as she threw her arms around Bonnie and held her tightly, urgently. “I’m so sorry,” she repeated and she motioned for Shego to come over with one hand.

“It’s okay,” Bonnie whispered, sounding close to tearful. She had been so worried for the redhead, but now she was just relieved to be holding Kim and to be held in return. Kim was all right, so everything was fine.

“It damn well isn’t okay,” Shego said as she went over to them and embraced them both. Her hug betrayed her tone, bearing her heart to them. She was obviously just as worried as Bonnie considering her hold on her girlfriends.

“I’m so sorry,” Kim said again. Her expression begged the eldest of them to believe she was being truthful. Her eyes were wide while her eyebrows were curled up and she looked almost like she would burst into tears if she continued to be scolded.

“We know, Princess. We know,” Shego replied, reaching up one hand to caress the redhead’s rounded cheek. Kim made it so damn hard to stay mad at her when she was being all pitiful and sincere like she was now.

Kim sighed, relieved to know she was not in too much trouble. “I’m sorry again. I wasn’t thinking at the time. I mean, I was so worked up over Cali and how she’s just gone…”

“So, you’re worried more about a cat than us?” Bonnie inquired, sounding hurt, upset, and incredulous. She had to pull away a little bit to look Kim directly in the face for that one. The look in her aqua eyes told Kim that she better explain that one and fast or she might be the first one out of them to actually have to sleep on the couch.

“Of course not! I just know where you guys are and I know you’re all right, but I don’t know what’s going on with Cali. She’s just gone. What if she’s hurt or something? She could be starving or dead and I can’t do anything about it,” Kim replied, trying her best not to sound as useless as she felt. She pulled it off for the most part.

“Gee, so you do know how we feel then,” Bonnie remarked.

Kim did not get that for a second, but when she did, she had the decency to appear ashamed. She blushed slightly and looked away, toeing the floor. She was reassured that everything was all right through her girlfriends’ embraces.

“I’m such a total jerk,” Kim muttered. She was the one with the dangerous hobbies out of them and Medea had targeted her when she attacked. Of course her lovers would worry when they did not hear from her.

“Yeah, ya are,” Shego concurred, which earned her a slap from Bonnie. “Ow! Why the hell are you always hitting me, demon child?” she demanded, even though the hit did not really hurt. She hated that Bonnie could hit her, yet the very thought of her returning the favor made her sick to her stomach. She could not even hit Bonnie in jest and she still had nightmares about the time she accidentally punched Bonnie.

“Because you always say hurtful things,” Bonnie pointed out in a slightly heated tone.

“What? It’s Kimmie!” Shego said, motioning to the hero with one hand.

“That means you shouldn’t say hurtful things to her,” Bonnie pointed out what she figured should be obvious.

Shego rolled her eyes, but she supposed Bonnie made sense. She had no plans on saying that out loud, though. She made a mental note to not say such openly wrong things to Kim, unless they were sparring anyway.

“All right, Pumpkin, go shower. I need to see what the hell happens next in the damn show,” Shego huffed, purposely changing the subject.

Kim chuckled a bit and her girls released her. She went to go take a shower to avoid being the hold up on Shego and Bonnie’s soaps. While she was gone, Bonnie turned to glare at Shego.

“What?” Shego asked with her hands up in a questioning manner.

“Babe, you’ve got to cut it out with Kimmie,” Bonnie replied.

“What? This is how we get along. You know that,” Shego pointed out with a bit of an attitude and she folded her arms across her chest.

“I know, but sometimes you have to rein it in. I’m not saying change or anything. I’m just saying that paying her pain some mind instead of ignoring it sometimes would help. It doesn’t make you soft and it doesn’t make her soft. Be more like you were when her parents were upset with her than you are all the time when something goes wrong in her day.”

“Okay, Duchess, it was a fucking cat. She’s got us worried out of our freaking minds over a fucking cat that wasn’t even hers. It was a stray fucking cat,” Shego stated, making a chopping motion with her hand as she spoke.

“I know it’s a damn cat, babe. The point is, the cat seems to mean a lot to Kimmie and you really have to recognize that, like she would do with you if this was the other way. Now, what do you have against Kim having the cat, anyway? I thought you wanted to spoil us. What happened to _that_ Shego?” Bonnie asked in a quiet tone as she took Shego’s hand in hers.

“Let’s just let it go,” Shego grumbled as she turned her head away from the smaller female. 

“No, love, we’re not letting it go. I think this is something that bothers you and you can talk to us about stuff that bothers you. What do you have against letting Kim have this cat?”

“I just don’t want a nasty ass stray cat in the house. You agreed with that,” Shego pointed out.

“Yeah, I know I did, but that was before I knew Kim was going to make such a thing out of it and before I knew your crazed ex-girlfriend was out there with a murderous rage directed toward me and Kim. I’m not trying to get on your case, but try to be a little more supportive toward Kimmie right now,” Bonnie requested in a tender tone.

Shego sighed and her shoulders slumped, which was all the answer Bonnie was going to get. The attorney was aware she was not going to get a verbal response. She still held Shego’s hand, so she gently caressed the palm with her thumb. She leaned forward and gave Shego a quick peck on the mouth to show that she approved of Shego’s decision.

“You two are so high maintenance,” Shego grumbled.

Bonnie smiled. “And you love us for it.”

The two of them retreated to the couch where Kim met them about twenty minutes later. They settled into their usual positions and watched the soaps. Kim wished she knew what Shego and Bonnie saw in the things, but whatever kept them settled down was good for her.

“So, Princess, what happened with the mission?” Shego asked after the shows were over.

“Dementor tried to steal a diamond,” Kim replied as if it was nothing. She shrugged a bit, which Bonnie felt rather than saw considering their positions on the sofa.

“He’s always going after money. At least he’s got the whole ‘mad science’ thing under control,” Shego remarked, a half-smile gracing her features from amusement.

“Yeah, he’s got a weird sidekick or something now. I meant to tell you guys about her before,” Kim said as if she just remembered that.

“ _Her_?” both women echoed. Bonnie was intrigued enough to change her position. She turned around so she faced Kim.

“He’s got this cat-girl for a sidekick,” Kim replied. She was not too sure why she felt the need to tell them about it, but she did. It seemed amusing to her in retrospect, but she knew they would not take it quite the same way.

“A cat-girl? Like the stuff your brothers and creepy cousin are into?” Bonnie inquired to make sure that she understood just what Kim was talking about. She was not too interested in anything where she might even accidentally see a “cat-girl,” but thanks to being around the Possible family for years now, she happened to see one every now and then.

“Yeah, just like that. It’s weird,” Kim answered.

Shego gave her a deadpanned look. “It’s weird? Really? Out of everything in your life Dementor with a cat-girl is weird?”

“Well, she tackled me twice. She hit me hard, too, and then she just acts like a cat after that,” Kim continued on.

“What do you mean acts like a cat?” Shego asked, pulling Kim down a bit, so that she could completely see the redhead’s rounded face.

“She cuddled me twice,” Kim answered as if it was nothing, even though she knew it would not be taken as nothing.

“Cuddled you!” Bonnie and Shego reacted in the same way, clutching Kim in a possessive manner. Their expressions twisted in the same manner, too, incredulous and furious at the same time.

“You let some strange cat-girl cuddle you?” Bonnie shrieked, frowning deeply.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Shego chimed in right after. She scowled just the same as the lawyer and stared Kim down with hard emerald eyes.

“She tackled me! I couldn’t do anything about it. Well, the second time anyway. The first time I flipped her off, but the second time she kind of crushed me with her weight and I couldn’t move,” Kim explained with a sheepish laugh.

“What the hell kinda excuse is that?” Bonnie and Shego hollered at the same time.

Kim chuckled. “I knew you guys would react like that. Calm down, nothing happened. Plus, I kept Dementor from taking the diamond. Unfortunately, he and the cat-girl got away.”

“Okay, that’s all well and good,” Shego started the speech out, knowing her duchess would take it right where she wanted it to be.

“But, what the hell is this about the cat-girl cuddling you?” Bonnie finished with a huff.

“I told you, nothing happened,” Kim tried to assure them.

“That’s beside the point!” they screamed.

“Loves, loves, loves, calm down. Nothing happened. She didn’t even do anything aside for snuggle my neck, like a cat would. She was seriously like a cat. It was nothing bad,” Kim promised them.

“You don’t let it get bad. We’ve already got to worry about Bonnie and her damn client/girlfriend,” Shego remarked, a teasing smile aimed at the lawyer.

“She’s not my girlfriend!” Bonnie shrieked in horror. Her aqua eyes flashed with fiery indignity. 

“She better not be,” Kim said and Shego nodded in agreement.

Bonnie rolled her eyes, not really thinking to point out that Kim should be the last one among them talking about other girlfriends. “Please, like I would be caught dead with her outside of work,” she decided to argue.

“You see her for dinner like three nights out of the week,” Shego commented.

“Don’t get bitchy with me. Who the hell knows what you do with your class full of adoring fan-girls, after all,” Bonnie countered.

Shego rolled her eyes that time. “Whatever.” She did not really have anything better than that since she did have a little fan club.

The conversation faded after that with all of them silently conceding they were just going to have to trust each other. They knew for that to work, they were probably going to have to think as little as possible on the situation. If they started overanalyzing things then they would all become nervous wrecks considering the fact they were already in a trio and quite able to wholeheartedly love each other. They would start thinking maybe they were also capable of romantically loving someone else and then they would have to think of the impact of that on their relationship. It was all just too much. 

“You two ready to go to bed?” Shego asked, mostly because her younger lovers were falling asleep on her.

“Yeah,” Kim and Bonnie mumbled in tired tones. It was a long day for both of them, which tended to be the case. Kim typically handled her days better than Bonnie since she was used to what she did, but the emotional impact of not being able to find Cali was wiping her out lately.

Bonnie got off the sofa first, followed by Kim, and Shego just sat up. The pale woman watched her two lovers stagger off, which brought a small smile to her face. She followed after them when they were halfway to the bedroom. She figured they were going to sleep good tonight, which just meant she would sleep well, too.

They eased into the bed, snuggling up against each other as usual. They settled into warm bodies and comfortable pillows, whispered their goodnights and loves to each other, and then they fell asleep within minutes. Seeing them now, peacefully pressed against each other, it would be hard to believe they had almost gotten into a fight about possible love-interests.

-*-(Next day)-*-

The trio all shot up as the house phone rang out loudly. The sudden noise put them all in a panic because they did not know what was going on for more seconds than they liked. Kim and Shego were ready to fight before they realized it was a phone call that woke them up. They all looked around, hoping to spot the annoying device if only to shut it up. They all looked quite a mess with their hair going in every direction, mouths gapped open from shock, and eyes going from wide to half-mast as a couple of seconds passed.

“Hello?” Shego answered the phone in a groggy, scratchy tone. As it turned out, the thing was on the floor on her side of the bed. She tried to remember how it got there, but her mind could not focus on much, aside from the fact that she desired to go back to sleep. She had to glance at the time because she felt like she had just gone to sleep. The clock was on the nightstand by Bonnie’s side of the bed. Her eyes nearly fell out of her head when she saw the numbers.

“Is Bonnie there?” a female voice asked, as if everything was normal. A voice that Shego was familiar with, but still quite pissed at. 

“Lady, who the fuck are you calling my house at fucking five in the fucking morning?” Shego demanded, close to yelling, which bothered her lovers as they tried to go back to sleep.

“Excuse me?” the voice shrieked angrily. The noise came through so loud that Kim and Bonnie turned back to Shego, wondering if that was who they thought it was on the phone. 

“I said, who the fuck are you calling my fucking house at five in the fucking morning?” Shego demanded once again in a snarl of a tone. Her face was twisted with a frown at the sheer audacity the woman had the nerve to call their home so early in the morning as if it was not rude and inconsiderate. 

The woman sputtered for a few seconds, seemingly shocked that Shego would repeat such crass words. “Put Bonnie on the phone!” she practically ordered once her mouth remembered how to form real words again.

“No, don’t put Bonnie on the phone,” the lawyer pled as she knew who that was, but Shego was already handing her the phone.

“I’m not dealing with this shit. We don’t have to be up for three more fucking hours. This is bullshit,” the former sidekick huffed, shoving the phone at Bonnie.

“Fuck you,” Bonnie mouthed to the pale beauty while putting the phone properly to her ear. “Hi, Mom,” she greeted the caller through clinched teeth. She did not see the need in pretending to be happy with hearing from her mother.

“Was that that Shego girl who answered the phone?” her mother inquired, sounding quite upset.

“Tell that her I’m grown fucking woman,” Shego insisted since she heard Mrs. Rockwaller’s question.

Bonnie rolled her eyes. “Mom, why are you calling here so damn early in the morning?” she asked in a frustrated, annoyed tone of her own. Her face was tight with irritation and the moment that she stopped speaking, she clinched her teeth together from fury. It was a surprise that her teeth did not crack and shatter from the pressure. She was not for being woken up three hours before she needed to be, especially when she had to look forward to an undoubtedly sorry, horrible day at work.

“I wanted to make sure I caught you before work, Bon-bon,” her mother explained, sounding so chipper for five in the morning. Of course, her mother had always been a morning person.

“Well, mission a-fucking-accomplished,” Bonnie remarked in a bitter tone. Her mood was not being helped as she watched Shego pull Kim toward her and force them both back down onto their pillows. She pouted at the sight; she wanted to cuddle and sleep, too!

Mrs. Rockwaller gasped, not used to hearing such harsh language from her little Bon-bon. Sure, Bonnie was flighty and bratty, as far as her mother knew anyway, but she was hardly ever so openly rude. Her mother glanced over it, though, much like she did with everything involving Bonnie. The lawyer would say that it was a family trait. Plus, her mother had so many years of ignoring her children’s bad behavior that it was probably just second nature to her now.

“There’s going to be a family dinner tomorrow. You should come,” her mother said, sounding normal despite the rash words being used by her youngest child.

Bonnie rolled her eyes. “Whatever,” she said, sounding very much like she did in high school.

“Baby,” Kim scolded her, showing that she was not quite asleep yet.

Bonnie groaned. “Fine, Mom. I’ll think about it. Bye.”

“Love you,” her mother said.

Bonnie snorted and it would not have been surprising if fire shot from her nose because of the sound. She knew why her mother said that to her. She was not going to say what her mother wanted to hear from her.

“I know,” Bonnie replied and she hung up the phone.

Shego wasted no time starting up. “Why didn’t you just tell your mom you loved her?”

“Oh, just shut up! It’s too early for this bullshit,” Bonnie huffed as she flopped back down, settling her body into Kim’s form.

“Whatever you say, Bon-bon,” the pale woman continued on, making sure to cover Bonnie properly with the sheet.

“Shego, cut it out,” Kim reprimanded the eldest as she put her arms around Bonnie. She pulled Bonnie close and Bonnie sighed against her.

“Aw, but I was having so much fun.” Shego pretended to pout, even though Kim was not facing her. In fact, she was curled into Kim’s shoulder blade, so there was no way for the hero to see her face.

“Can we just go back to sleep? It’s five in the fucking morning!” Bonnie pointed out with a furious huff.

“I had no idea,” Shego said sarcastically.

“Keep it up,” Bonnie dared her.

“Both of you, go to sleep! It’s five in the damn morning!” Kim stated in a no-nonsense tone. Some times it worked and some times it did not. She was about to find out this time it was going to be a miss.

“Actually, it’s five in the _fucking_ morning,” Shego and Bonnie commented like the smart-asses they were.

Kim groaned. “You two are just going to make this worse, huh? We can’t just go back to sleep?”

Shego and Bonnie did not argue that since it was exactly what they wanted to do. They all settled back into the bed and in their usual positions. Bonnie threw her arms around Kim, but one rested on Shego. Shego did the same.

“Kimmie sandwich,” Shego muttered in Kim’s ear before drifting back to sleep. The former thief noted that she was going to have to remember that one and say it again when they were more in the mood for such antics. She planned to follow the line up with something more physical at a later date as well.

-8-8-8-8-

“So, we’re going to this stupid Rockwaller family thing, aren’t we?” Shego inquired as the trio moved about their kitchen. Everyone was gathering what they wanted for breakfast before they had to get to work, not that Kim and Shego had far to go.

“Of course,” Kim answered, searching through one of the cabinets.

“Why? The duchess doesn’t like her family and they don’t like her, or us for that matter. What the hell?” Shego stated as she started peeling an orange. She did not see why they needed to go some place where no one liked them and they did not like anyone. It seemed downright stupid to her.

“Bonnie?” Kim said, turning to look at the lawyer, who was in a different cabinet.

“I’d rather not deal with them, but I know you won’t let it go. You don’t throw away family and all that crap,” Bonnie grumbled.

“You never know when your family will be there for you. You also never know when they’ll change their minds. I mean, look at my dad. He’s doing better, right?” Kim pointed out. Yeah, she had a point, but there was also the fact that her father had people around him that tried to change his mind. Bonnie’s family did not seem to be like that.

“Let’s just go and hope they finally flip out enough to ban me from any further family contact,” Bonnie replied with a sigh. That way, she would not be invited to anything else and Kim could stop having all of this faith in families. “And here, baby, I think this is what you want.” Bonnie passed Kim a granola bar.

Kim smiled brightly, maybe too bright for the morning, as she accepted just what she was searching for. “Thanks and you shouldn’t talk like that. You shouldn’t be looking to lose your family.”

Shego groaned from the unwavering, cheery optimism. Bonnie was right there with her, even though she thought it was funny for Shego to be the one acting like family was so awful. Shego had an amazing family, after all.

“Baby, these are the people who seriously screwed me up in the head and you know that. They’re mean to me, to us, on purpose. I can’t help wanting to put as much distance between them and me as possible. I keep telling you, they’re not like your family and I know you want to believe everybody has some good in them, but they don’t. They’re demons,” Bonnie declared quite seriously. She hated telling Kim this or even having Kim witness it with her family.

“Well, I used to think you were evil. Hell, I thought you were a bigger evil than Shego and she went around proclaiming her evil,” Kim quipped.

“Hey, I was evil,” Shego argued, turning around to get deeper in on the conversation now that her name and reputation were brought up.

“In retrospect, not so much. Sure, you were bad, but I don’t think I’d go with evil so much. I mean, you had your moments and all, but then again, you had other moments,” Kim said.

“Don’t even say I had good moments,” Shego ordered with a frown. Kim was about to take her up on that one. 

“Okay, you know what, this isn’t about Shego. It’s about me and my screwed up family and the fact that you thought I was eviler than her?” Bonnie shouted incredulously, motioning to Kim’s former _arch-foe_. “What the hell? She worked with a guy that wants to take over the freaking world and she even tried to kill you. We were rivals at best. I never tried to kill you,” Bonnie said.

“Yeah, but it was more like just a job for her from what I could tell while for you it was personal in trying to tear me down,” Kim pointed out.

“I was confused! Geez, cut me a break. You know my sense of love was warped back then,” Bonnie argued with a huff.

Kim laughed a bit, showing there were no hard feelings. She then went over to the attorney and put an arm around her. Bonnie, loving the attention, smiled and rested her head on Kim’s shoulder.

“Don’t make me go, baby,” the brunette pled in a quiet tone, speaking next to Kim’s ear. She nipped at the earlobe while she was there. 

“I’ll make you a deal. We’ll go this one last time and if things are the same as always, I won’t make a fuss about it anymore. I just don’t want you to lose your family,” Kim explained and then she placed a gentle kiss to the side of Bonnie’s head. 

“Promise?” Bonnie muttered, purposely sounding pathetic.

“Promise,” the hero said and that was enough for Bonnie because Kim never lied to her.

Bonnie smiled warmly and embraced Kim tightly, which made the redhead smile. Bonnie then hurried off to work, feeling quite good. Kim and Shego walked her down to her car and watched her drive off. 

“Wow, Kimmie, that was different of you,” Shego commented as they turned around to go back into the building and prepare for their students.

“What do you mean?” Kim asked with an arched eyebrow. 

“Well, usually, you’re pushy and want to get your way all the time,” Shego replied.

Kim nodded a little. “Oh, you mean the whole ‘Kim-ness’ thing?” 

“Yup.”

“I’ve gotten it under control to an extent if you hadn’t noticed, at least for our relationship. I mean, three demanding women in a relationship wouldn’t work unless we learn to let go every now and then, right?” Kim argued.

Shego chuckled a bit and put an arm around Kim’s slender shoulders. “Sometimes, I hate how you two make me feel like I have a lot to learn about being with you.” 

Kim smiled a bit and put her arm around Shego’s waist. “You’re doing fine,” she assured Shego and kissed her cheek. They stayed like that for a while, just openly hugging in the street.

They could care less than nothing about showing affection in public now. No one would dare take a picture of them now since it was working its way around the media as to what happened to Tina, the reporter that broke the story on the trio. Last most people heard, she was a hobo or worse. It was quite the fall from grace, going from a top reporter to a homeless vagabond. Added to that was the rumor that it was Shego and her mother causing the woman unimaginable grief and suffering that had no signs of ending. No one wanted a piece of that madness.

“Love, you’re fine with us. Give yourself sometime and you’ll end up being just like we are with each other,” Kim assured the older woman. For once, Shego did not argue and just accepted the encouraging words.

-8-8-8-8-

Bonnie had two kinds of headaches when she came home and she could only hope things got better once she was in the supposed safety of her own home. If Kim was gone again, it just meant she would have two other headaches, the one that came from Kim being gone and the one that came from her and Shego arguing over Kim and letting her keep the cat. Thankfully, she did not have to worry about the latter two.

“Hey, baby,” Kim said as she practically bounced over to the brunette. She placed a kiss to Bonnie’s mouth while taking her coat from her. Shego walked over in her usual manner, something like a laidback lion, and also greeted Bonnie with a kiss while taking the lawyer’s briefcase from her.

“You had a rough day,” Shego commented as she pulled away.

“Don’t I always?” Bonnie countered with a tired sigh. She shook her head a little bit, as if that would rid her of the headache.

“This one was obviously rougher than usual,” Kim quipped. Bonnie looked downright exhausted.

“My damn mother wouldn’t leave me the hell alone and then goddamn Heather,” Bonnie huffed as her shoulders slumped just thinking about the day that she had. Her phone never stopped ringing thanks to her mother and Heather had come up to the office to see her because she was having trouble getting through to Bonnie over the phone, which was thanks to her mother tying up her lines.

“Youse want me to break her legs, boss?” Shego joked… well, unless Bonnie took her up on the offer anyway. If it was what Bonnie wanted, Shego figured she was going to have a busy night doing a lot of illegal goodness.

“That’s all right, sweetheart. If you want, you can break both of their jaws to save me the trouble of having to listen to them,” Bonnie remarked.

“Babe, don’t tell her that!” Kim reprimanded the attorney. “You know she’ll go do it.”

“And I will, too,” Shego agreed with a nod. “Happily, actually.”

“I halfway mean it. Although with Heather, I might actually mean it. But, don’t do anything yet. She is the only client I have, after all,” Bonnie commented, trying her best to force out a smile. She could not make it to that point, though.

“She’s also trying to get into your pants and those pants belong to us,” Shego declared quite seriously and possessively while taking Bonnie around the waist. Her free hand did start working toward Bonnie’s belt.

“Hey! None of that! I’m way too tired,” Bonnie objected, swatting at the hand at her buckle.

“You’re no fun at all. Go take your shower, you crab,” Shego teased, releasing the attorney. Bonnie took a weak swat at the pale woman. It was so light Shego did not even bother to retaliate.

Bonnie walked off to go take her shower while Kim went to make her some tea and get her favorite snack. Bonnie was quite relieved to see her cup of tea and a plate of fig newtons waiting for her. She settled in on the sofa, where her girlfriends waited for her.

“So, what happened? Why are you so worn out?” Shego inquired, speaking to Bonnie.

“It’s the same thing with Heather, of course,” Bonnie started her response. She was not even about to tell them about the other major annoyance she had to deal with at work, which was her coworker, Lyle. She knew once she got to talking about him, she would badmouth him so badly that both Shego and Kim would be up at the firm first thing in the morning to kick his ass in an infinite amount of ways. Part of her would enjoy it, but it would bring too much trouble to her afterwards. It was not worth it. 

“We have got to get you some other clients,” Kim sighed. She was rather uncomfortable with Heather trying to pick up Bonnie. It did not help that she remembered how Bonnie had flipped over Heather when they were in high school. Now, they had come a long way from high school, but it continued to eat at the back of her mind.

“Then there’s my damn mother. She won’t leave me alone about this stupid family thing. She’s saying I’ve got to come and all this junk. She kept calling me, telling me about what everyone else is doing and how I need to get my act together and get married and all of this bullshit. She wants me to leave you two,” Bonnie informed her lovers.

Shego scoffed. “To hell with that.”

“Pretty much what I said. She’s not really listening to me when we talk, though. She hears whatever she wants to hear, so in her mind, she swears our end is near and by some miracle I’m going to be into guys again, not that I ever really was into guys. I was just jealous and confused. She makes me so frustrated!” Bonnie made two tight fists and shook them above her head. She then made a motion like she was going to yank her hair, but she did not bother with that. She went back to drinking her tea.

“I don’t get it. Why does she want you to come if she’s opposed to you being gay?” Shego asked.

Bonnie shook her head. “My mom lives in some other universe where her children can’t do anything wrong and if we do, it’s not really our faults. I don’t know. Maybe it’s a cry for attention. I mean, my dad doesn’t seem to pay her too much mind. So maybe she thought having kids would change that.”

Shego snorted. “He had to pay her some mind. They have more kids than my parents and my father doesn’t stop being my demon mother mind.” Her girlfriends laughed at that.

“You make a point there. I don’t really know what’s going on with my mother. She wants us all to be this big, happy successful family, but she’s not willing to actually work on any issues to make that happen and it’s been that way since we were kids. She never stopped any of us from being horrible to each other. She just pretended it didn’t happen. So, we all grew up horrible. And my dad wasn’t any better because he just yelled at us all the time about stuff that didn’t even have anything to do with us. My household was a mess,” Bonnie sighed.

“Look at it this way, if everything goes as it has been with your jerk-ish family, you won’t have to bother with them after this last time,” Shego pointed out. “So, when do we have to go?”

“Tomorrow sometime in the evening,” Bonnie answered.

“Oh, fuck,” the ex-thief groaned as if she had just been told that she was going to be taken to a wall and shot.

“Wow, tomorrow?” Kim said in almost as much surprised horror as the eldest.

Shego and Bonnie turned to look at Kim, who had to work hard to keep her expression neutral. It was too late, though. They figured Kim was just about as thrilled to go as they were.

“You know, instead of doing this group torture thing that Kimmie seems intent on making us go through, we could just spend tomorrow here, in bed,” Shego commented, rather hopeful that Kim would go for that.

“I second that,” Bonnie said quite honestly. A day in bed with the two sexiest women she could think of versus a night with her family? Sexy women won that match like a heavyweight championship boxer going against a five-year-old kid.

“Yeah, but we’re not a democracy today,” Kim commented.

“Obviously we’re into tyranny today,” Shego remarked dryly.

“Think of it more of communism with a first among equal thing,” Kim countered with a smile. Her girlfriends rolled their eyes. It would seem that they were going no matter what.

“You owe us big for this shit,” Shego stated quite seriously to the hero; her expression backed up her tone. Bonnie nodded in agreement. Kim’s smile faltered a bit thanks to that.

“But, you both already agreed,” Kim said.

“So? You still owe us,” Shego replied, just as strongly. “First amongst equals.” She snorted.

-*-(Next day)-*-

“I don’t want to go,” Shego grumbled as she and Bonnie wandered around the apartment, taking their dear, sweet time getting ready for their appointment in Hell.

“I don’t either. I really want that day in bed you were talking about yesterday,” Bonnie remarked with a lecherous smirk. She reached out and ran a finger down Shego’s bare arm.

“That would be great, if only little Miss Perfect didn’t run off to check on her pictures again,” Shego huffed.

“It could’ve been worse. She could’ve been going after that cat again, after all.”

Shego conceded that point. It seemed like Kim was coming to grips that Cali was gone. She had gone out looking yesterday, but she had not stayed out nearly as long as she had the previous nights. They could only hope she did not go out at all when they got back from their day in Hell.

“She’s so going to get it for making us do this,” Shego said and Bonnie nodded.

The best thing was that they could plot together while they were alone. Kim should have known better, they thought. Well, she was going to regret leaving them by themselves now.

-8-8-8-8-

The Rockwaller family was all gathered at the main house in Middleton. They were waiting for the two youngest of the siblings to show up before they got to have dinner. Mrs. Rockwaller seemed to just want to have a family get-together out of the blue as far as everyone could tell, but they were not opposed to it, even though all of the siblings and their spouses were in agreement that Mrs. Rockwaller was annoying. It was just that she cooked really well.

“Where the hell are Johnnie and Bonnie? I’m starving,” Ronnie complained from his space on the sofa, where he and his older brother watched a football game. He rubbed his stomach as it made its upset mood known by complaining loudly. His sapphire blue eyes narrowed from anger.

“Me, too,” Donnie agreed with his younger brother. “Those two play around too damn much. I just want to eat and get out of here.”

Ronnie nodded, wanting the same thing. He already had to put up with his wife coming around every five minutes, wanting to know when they were leaving. She was nagging him and his mother was her usual annoying self. He did not get along that great with his siblings either, even though he and Donnie could be somewhat civil toward each other under the right circumstances. He just wanted to eat and get the hell out of there now.

“Why the hell did Mom plan this stupid get together anyway?” Ronnie inquired in a grumble, his lip curled up in aggravation.

Donnie shrugged his massive shoulders. “Who the hell knows.” He did not care about the reason. He just wanted his food, so he could get him and his family out of there. He did not want to be around his parents and siblings any more than the next sibling.

The brothers focused their attention back on the game while ignoring the background noise, coming from the kids and the “women folk” as the brothers liked to refer to their sisters and wives as when they all got together. They got more annoyed with each second that went by and neither of the younger siblings showed up. Their frowns deepened and they folded their thick arms across their chests while bodies tensed. To make matters worse, their team was losing the game.

A knock at the door garnered some attention from the adults in the house. Mrs. Rockwaller went to answer and was surprised to see who was at the door. Her eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open in shock.

“Brick?” she said in disbelief. He looked different from when she last saw him, but she knew it was him.

“Uh, yeah, hi, Mrs. Rockwaller,” the blond said with a slight wave and a little, charming smile. He was different from when she last saw him because he was a teenager when she last saw him. He was now in his mid-twenties. He was taller and wider, but still quite muscular. His blond hair was longer and pulled back into a ponytail. He was dressed kind of the same from his teenage years, though. He had on plain jeans and a t-shirt since no one said anything about formalwear.

Mrs. Rockwaller practically bounced on her heels upon seeing Brick. He must be back with Bonnie, she thought with inside excitement bursting from every pore in her body. Oh, joy! That was great. Her little Bon-bon was back to dating men! Maybe Bonnie would even get married to Brick, which made her feel even better on the inside. Thanks to that idea, she started smiling widely.

“Come in, dear. Come in,” she urged him, motioning inside the house with one hand.

Brick showed signs of being no smarter now than he was the last time that she saw him. “Uh…” he mumbled for no reason, but did know enough to step inside the house.

“It’s so good to see you again,” she said with a grin, shutting the door.

“Is it?” he asked with his face scrunched up a little. He could have sworn that after the break up with Bonnie, the whole Rockwaller family would hate him, even though he even picked up the fact that they did not like Bonnie much. He guessed they cared even less about Bonnie’s emotional wellbeing than he first assumed if no one was upset with him over the breakup.

“Of course it is! Everybody look, Brick’s here!” Mrs. Rockwaller announced to the household as if he was some big VIP.

“Brick?” Ronnie echoed, craning an eyebrow. He turned to his big brother, checking to see if he had any information in regards to why their sister’s ex-boyfriend was there.

Donnie shrugged again, silently conceding that he did not know what was going on. They both then turned to look toward the front of the house. Everyone else did the same.

“I’ll be damned. It is Brick,” Donnie commented in a surprised tone. His turquoise eyes showed just as much shock as his voice did. “Guess that’s good news for you,” he added, speaking to his little brother.

“Good news for me?” the younger brother asked with a little frown.

“Yeah, now your little sister isn’t getting better pussy than you,” the eldest remarked with a cruel smile.

Ronnie frowned and resisted the urge to deck his older brother. It was not like the bastard could take a punch, after all, Ronnie reminded himself, but he did not hit him. It would start their mother up, whining about their “roughhousing” and such. It was not something he wanted to hear right now.

They turned around as Brick came up to them and expended his hand for them to shake. It took them a long moment, but they did reach out and shake his hand. He had a tough grip, more so than they remembered, but they did not say anything.

“Watching the game, huh? I got money on it,” Brick said with a sigh as he sat down on the far end of the long, curved sofa. With his size, Brick actually made the brothers look small, which was just amazing since they were built like football players themselves.

“You and everybody else,” Donnie huffed.

Brick could not argue that one. Unlike the brothers though, he bet on the team that was winning. He could tell that they had bet on the wrong team just from the sour looks on their faces. Yes, he was a bit slow when it came to school, but he could read people just as well as any other person.

“So, what’re you doing here by yourself?” Ronnie asked, speaking to the newcomer.

“Yes, Brick, dear. Why did you come by yourself?” Mrs. Rockwaller inquired in a chipper tone.

“Oh, I was gonna come with my… significant other,” Brick answered. He sounded a bit awkward saying that last bit. It was not a phrase he was used to saying, but he remembered hearing it a couple of times and felt it was the best thing to say right now. “But, running late seems to be something that runs in the family,” he remarked with a light laugh and a shrug. He was a bit uncomfortable being there by himself with the questioning going on, but he played it off rather well, aside from the awkward laugh, anyway.

“Probably just means we’re doing something that involves thinking,” Connie snidely commented in passing as she walked from the den through the living room to get to the dining room where her husband was on his laptop computer, trying his damnedest to not interact with the Rockwaller sharks.

Brick got the remark, having been around the bitchy Rockwallers more times than he liked. He did not say anything, but looked away a bit and shift in his seat a little bit. He did not understand why they had to go out of their way to be horrible to any and everyone. He really could do without being in that house again, but he had made a promise, he reminded himself.

“This is so darling! It’s great to have you back here!” Mrs. Rockwaller grinned while taking a hold of Brick’s broad shoulder. If she smiled in wider, her head would have split in half.

“Um… cool,” Brick replied, not sure what else to say. He could not help wondering why Mrs. Rockwaller was so happy to see him. He had been told to expect the worse. 

“I’m sure Bonnie’ll be here soon,” Mrs. Rockwaller said.

“Uh…” Brick was not sure what to say to that one, but he did not get a chance explain himself.

There was a knock at the door and Mrs. Rockwaller rushed to answer. She opened the door and grinned again to see her youngest child standing before her, alone. She grabbed Bonnie by the arm while continuing to smile.

“It’s great that you’re here, Bon-bon!” Mrs. Rockwaller declared, causing her daughter to raise an eyebrow. 

“It is?” Bonnie asked in an almost horrified voice. _Since when?_ What the hell did her mother know that she did not?

“Come look who’s here, dear, waiting for you,” Mrs. Rockwaller said, ushering Bonnie into the house. 

The lawyer tried to object, pointing behind her, but her mother was not paying any attention. Bonnie made a tired face while she was pulled into the house. Her mother left the door open since the woman seemed more intent on getting Bonnie into the living room than anything else. Bonnie could only wonder what new Hell was awaiting her now.

“Look, Bonnie, see who’s here,” her mother said, motioning to Brick.

Bonnie turned her attention to the sofa and saw the former football player. He turned around to see her, too. They looked at each other with confused expressions painted on their faces. Their eyebrows were curled up and their mouths gaped open like little fishes.

“Brick, what the hell are you doing here?” Bonnie inquired once she recalled she could speak.

“Oh… um…” Brick hesitated as he rose to his feet. He was not sure why he stood up to speak with Bonnie, but he did not sit back down when he realized what he did. 

“He’s here for you, of course, dear!” Mrs. Rockwaller explained, still sporting a mile-wide grin.

“For me?” Bonnie echoed as if she did not understand how such a thing was possible. 

“Of course! It’s great that you’re back together!” Mrs. Rockwaller commented, hugging her daughter around the shoulders. “I knew that was just a phase with those girls and now you’re back with Brick and you’ll get married.”

“Married?” Bonnie practically shrieked in terror. Like hell she would ever marry Brick Flagg! His thinking was quite the same and it showed on his face considering the fact that he looked like a gun was being held to his head when he heard the word “married.”

“Who’s getting married?” Shego asked as she strolled into the house through the open front door. The sound of her voice caused the entire Rockwaller family to turn their attention to the front.

“What are you doing here?” Donnie demanded with a snarl tugging at his top lip. He glared daggers at her, as if she was some demon. She did not care.

“I’m here to take more of your money in pool, doy,” Shego remarked with a mocking smirk on her face.

“Excuse me, but what are you doing here?” Mrs. Rockwaller demanded as she boldly went up to Shego to chastise her face to face. “Bonnie doesn’t need you here. She’s with Brick now.”

“Since when?” Shego asked with a craned eyebrow. “What the hell happened between the car and here?” She shifted to look at Bonnie, who denied the charge by shaking her head vehemently. Shego was curious how the hell she and Kim got dumped between the walk from the car to the front door.

“With me?” Brick pointed to himself. He knew he was kind of slow, but he figured he could not be so slow that he missed picking up Bonnie as a girlfriend again.

“Like hell I’m with Brick!” Bonnie managed to holler in disbelief as her brain finally recalled how to voice indignation. 

“You better not be,” Shego chimed in, frowning somewhat at the very thought of her duchess being with someone other than her and Kim.

“Of course you’re with Brick. Why the hell else would he be here?” Ronnie pointed out.

“Are you kidding? She’s with me,” Shego declared as she went over to Bonnie and grabbed the lawyer quite possessively. It was something that Bonnie was used to and she liked the excuse to press herself against Shego in front of her family anyway.

“Well, at least she’s just with one girl now,” Lonnie commented, joining in all of the excitement. She walked out into the living room for a better view of what was going on, figuring she would be able to add in some of her remarks to help things get thick.

“What’s going on in here?” Kim asked as she and Johnnie walked into the house. They could hear the starts of the argument going on outside, where they had been having a pointless and annoying debate in Shego’s opinion. Shego had been out there just to keep an eye on Johnnie since she thought he was “trying to get into the pants of a hot lesbian” as Bonnie once put it. 

“What the hell is she doing here?” Donnie hollered when Kim stepped in. He pointed an angry finger in the redhead’s direction.

“Are you really this dense? I always come with Bonnie,” Kim reminded them with an annoyed look on her face.

“Funny, so do I,” Shego remarked with a lecherous smile as she nuzzled her face in Bonnie’s neck for the sole purpose of pissing off the Rockwallers, which worked wonders. 

“Disgusting,” Lonnie pretty much gagged at the sight. “Damn perverts.”

“Look, what’re you two doing here if Bonnie’s with Brick now?” Donnie demanded as he moved to get in close to Shego and Kim. They suspected he was looking to pick a fight just for the sake of fighting. After all, it was not like he truly gave a damn about his baby sister, they knew. He would be sorry if he picked a real fight with them, though. 

“I’m not with Brick!” Bonnie stated again, getting red in the face from her frustration with the idiots that she shared more DNA with than she liked. “I don’t know where you guys get this crazy idea, but I’m not with him!” A vein started showing in her forehead because of her anger.

“She’s really not,” Brick backed her up, waving off the idea with a few motions of his hand. 

“You said you were waiting for her,” Mrs. Rockwaller pointed out.

“You what?” Bonnie hollered at Brick. She knew he was a moron, but she doubted he would ever be so stupid as to try to get back with her.

“I didn’t say that. I said I was waiting for my significant other,” Brick reminded them, speaking in his typical laidback tone. He had to brush a few strands of loose hair out of his face.

“As in Bonnie,” Donnie figured while jabbing his thumb in his baby sister’s direction.

“No,” Brick said, his face scrunched up in confusion. If he was waiting for Bonnie, he would have said so. Why were they acting so stupid, he wondered. 

“Then who the hell are you here for?” Ronnie shrieked because he hated being confused. His brain wanted to know if Bonnie was still a freak dyke or what? 

“Uh… that would be me.” Johnnie stepped over to Brick. It took all of his willpower to hold his head high as he answered that question and the only thing keeping him from running away was the comforting, muscular arm that wrapped around his shoulders. He looked over at Brick and smiled his thanks.

“What. The. Hell?” Donnie and Ronnie said simultaneously in shock at what their little brother seemed to be implying. Lonnie and Connie were actually speechless for a long moment. 

“No way…” Kim muttered, her mouth hanging open. Brick? Johnnie was with Brick Flagg?! Since when was Brick Flagg gay, she wondered.

“I’ll be damned,” Shego mumbled. So, Johnnie really was gay. Well, that was one less thing to worry about.

“Um… Brick’s with me. He was waiting for me. I figured it was about time you guys met him… again,” Johnnie lamely explained, looking down at his feet. Everyone experienced the same stunned silence for several seconds. The air around them became heavy and thick, seemingly waiting to explode with one spark from someone. Connie was the one that set it off. 

“You did this!” she screeched as she marched out onto the scene, pointing an accusing and well-manicured finger at the baby of their bunch.

“Me?” Bonnie drew back a little, putting a hand to her chest.

“You turned Johnnie gay! He had a chance and you did this to him! You made him gay! You ruined everything for him!” Connie pointed out in an outraged voice. 

Bonnie and Johnnie were incredulous to what they were hearing, as were their lovers. The statement might not have been so insane sounding coming from any other Rockwaller sibling or even their mother, but Connie was the smart one. And yet, she accused Bonnie as if she had given Johnnie some sort of disease, like she breathed on him and that had turned Johnnie from a beer-drinking, cigar-smoking, chick-humping man’s man into a flaming faggot or something. It was beyond ridiculous to them.

Shego did not miss a beat. “Nah, he probably caught it from a toilet seat,” she remarked with a half-smirk on her face.

“Don’t you even start! You’ve only been encouraging Bonnie to act like a disgusting bitch since you came into the picture, you fucking animal!” Donnie declared.

“You know, for a guy that’s met me twice in his lifetime, you’re really pushing for there not to be a third meeting or much more lifetime,” Shego growled, cracking her knuckles, which she was certain she would have to put on someone’s cheek if things continued on.

“Sweetheart,” Bonnie said, wrapping an arm around Shego’s arm to keep her from really hurting someone. Sure, Bonnie hated her family and the feeling was mutual as far as she could tell, but she did not want Shego to assault one of her siblings. After all, she knew the damage Shego could do to a person. She did not hate them that much… yet.

“No, no, no. I’m not gonna stand here while some piss-ant, dick-weed calls you a bitch,” Shego argued in a heated tone with a frown wrinkling her usually smooth face.

“I’m not just calling her one, but you, too. And that skinny bitch there. You’re all fucking freaks!” Donnie hollered, pointing at Kim, who just stood back, glaring at the Rockwaller family. 

An internal clock in Kim steadily ticked away, but no one could tell that by looking at her. She still gave off her normal, almost sweet aura. She even looked calm.

“Hey, fuck you!” Shego hollered, her anger clouding her brain to the point that she could not even think of anything witty to say in return. 

“Don’t call them freaks,” Johnnie spoke up, sounding stronger while standing up for his sister and her girlfriends than he had for himself.

“Don’t even start, you fucking homo,” Ronnie jumped in. 

“Don’t call him that,” Brick growled in anger. His anger seemed to have quieted down the older brothers for a moment since he was rather a big guy. He could probably break Ronnie in half if the urge overcame him.

“This is all your fault! You’re awful and poisonous! You ruined everything!” Connie snarled, now in Bonnie’s face over it. She glared down at her little sister with some harmful intent as far as Bonnie and Shego could tell. 

“Back the fuck up off of her,” Shego commanded in a cold, menacing tone, not liking the vibes from any of the older Rockwaller siblings at the moment. It seemed like this could go beyond their usual barbs. Mrs. Rockwaller seemed to be in a state of catatonic shock.

“Shego,” Bonnie said, keeping her grip on the plasma-wielder to make sure she could rein Shego in if the need should arise.

Shego now stood in the face of Connie, practically nose to nose with the woman, glaring frosty daggers into Connie’s soul. It was like she was daring Connie to say something else. Connie looked back at her with a hard gaze, refusing to back down.

“We knew you’d never amount to anything, but we actually had faith in Johnnie,” Connie said in a deliberate tone with her eyes focused squarely on her baby sister, a sister she knew used to worship the ground she walked on and looked up to like she was some all mighty god when she was younger. A sister who she was always so certain was worthless and felt that needed to be said. “But, you’ve ruined that, like you ruin everything. Everything about your is worthless.”

“Everything,” Lonnie chimed in, sounding just as sincere as the eldest sister as she walked over to glare down at the baby of the family. Those words seemed to stop everything again, like the whole world was in super-slow-motion. 

Bonnie had always suspected her sisters felt that way, but to have it confirmed, out in the air, made it seem real, solid, like she could touch the shame her family held for her, like it could crush her under its enormous weight. _Why_ , her mind asked. Why did they treat her such a way? Why did they feel that way about her? Why?

Bonnie never understood it. What had she done? What made her so different? They all looked differently, so it could not be looks. They were all treated the same by their parents, annoyed by their mother and ignored by their father for the most part. Why did they seem to hate her most of all, even though they all treated each other poorly? It was just that sometimes, they got along with each other, but never with her. She was always on the outside looking in when it came to them. _WHY_ , her mind demanded!

She was never one of them. Never. Feeling it was one thing, but having it confirmed… she was fairly certain her organs collapsed inside of her. 

Bonnie’s turquoise eyes seemed to crack as her soul shattered inside of her. Her siblings, minus Johnnie, had the nerve to look smug as they took in her pain. And then tears began to stream down Bonnie’s face. She did not even realize she was crying. 

And Connie had the gall to look like triumphal, smiling slightly, eyes shining from her cruel victory. Connie was happy to have killed her on the inside. Connie was happy to have shredded her to pieces that she might never be able to put back together and no one contradicted her. The silence only seemed to back Connie up and clawed at the rest of Bonnie, tearing off big chunks.

Shego scowled and growled like an animal. Her rage was so brilliant that it seemed almost to make her hair stand on end as her ire shot through her. She raised a flaming claw, ready to do some serious damage to Connie, to have Connie physically feel what Bonnie was going to through. Only problem was, she was beat to it.

Kim sprang to life in a flash that light would have envied. She moved faster than a thought, it seemed, which might explain what happened next. No eye noticed her even move from her spot near Johnnie, but she had to move. After all, there was no other way to explain why her fist crashed against Connie’s disrespectful mouth, wiping that evil smile away like industrial strength cleaner. It did not even occur to the house what happened until Connie was on the floor, bleeding from her mouth and spitting out a tooth. Kim stood over her like a butcher over a lamb. 

“Say something else,” Kim dared Connie with a dark look in her olive eyes. Connie gulped and everyone was silent for what seemed like eternity.

“Kim,” Bonnie and Johnnie muttered in disbelief, staring on with wide eyes.

Shego was not as shocked, having seen the darker side of Kim, more so than she liked actually. Right now, the only problem she had with it was that Kim beat her to hitting snobbish bitch. For a long moment, no one moved.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Donnie demanded as he reached out a hand to grab Kim, but Brick grabbed his wrist.

“Why don’t you just calm down?” Brick suggested, maintaining a tight grip on the older male’s hand. Luckily, Brick was the bigger of the two or he knew there would be a fighting going on. Donnie was not looking to get his ass kicked it would seem. 

It was probably best that Brick grabbed Donnie anyway. From the look in Kim’s eye, she probably would have dropped him before he managed to touch her. Donnie growled.

“Calm down,” Brick repeated in a strong tone. 

“Yeah, before we have to drop a few more of you,” Shego commented, still posed to take someone down. There were a lot of people there, after all. She did not know if one of them wanted to be brave. She hoped one of them did. She wanted to punish them all for treating Bonnie so terribly. 

It was the act of violence that got Mrs. Rockwaller out of her daze. She looked down at Connie, who was curled up on the floor, looking rightfully afraid now. The middle-aged woman turned her attention to Bonnie and her “guests,” looking at them with anger, near-hatred in her eyes.

“You ruined the whole night! You should go,” Mrs. Rockwaller ordered her youngest child in an almost cold tone.

“I ruined the whole night?” Bonnie yelled incredulously, tears still staining her tanned cheeks. Her body started shaking uncontrollably. Why was it her fault? She had not attacked anyone verbally like her siblings had. All she did was show up! She guessed that was her mistake… from the first time she showed up twenty-five years ago. Or should she add the nine months she sat in the womb to that?

“Yes, just go!” Mrs. Rockwaller commanded, pointing to the door and stomping her foot to emphasize her order.

“Mom,” Johnnie started to defend his little sister, but was not given the chance.

“You, too!” Mrs. Rockwaller pretty much screamed while her hand seemed to be stuck in the position of pointing at the door. “You started all of this, after all.” 

“I started all of this?” Johnnie hollered in disbelief, pointing to himself with his right hand. How the hell had he started it?

“Yes, you and your…” Mrs. Rockwaller could not even say the word “boyfriend” as she glared at Brick.

“Let’s just go,” Brick said to Johnnie while releasing Donnie’s hand. He put his arm around Johnnie’s shoulders in a protective manner while turning them both toward the front door.

“We should get out of here, too,” Shego figured. Damn it, she was reduced to being the rational one now that Bonnie was having a breakdown and Kim completely had lost her temper.

“Yeah, I guess,” Kim agreed. She glared at Connie one last time and then at the other Rockwaller siblings before turning to leave with her lovers. Her look actually stopped their hearts for a few seconds, but they easily regained their misplaced bravadoes.

“This isn’t over. I’ll see you in court,” Connie said once Kim’s back was to her.

“Call my fucking lawyer then, bitch,” Kim replied while motioning to Bonnie. She then exited the house with her girlfriends. They were right behind Johnnie and Brick.

There were no words between them. Everyone just retreated to their vehicles. Kim drove home while Shego cradled Bonnie in the backseat. Kim drove because she had taken the chance to hit a Rockwaller, knowing Shego was the one that wanted to do it. So, she figured Shego should be the one to make the first effort at comforting Bonnie. Besides, she needed time to cool down.

Kim’s heart pounded in her chest, fueled by the adrenaline coursing through her. How could she put Bonnie in that situation? She had to keep pushing for Bonnie to see her family, hoping somewhere in there, they were actually good people. After all, Bonnie turned out to be a good person, so she figured Bonnie’s siblings might be, too. She was _too_ wrong this time, she realized as she looked at Bonnie in the rearview mirror.

Bonnie cried the whole silent trip home. Shego was kind enough to carry her up to the apartment when they got there. She settled down on the sofa, which was where Kim came in to add her presence to it all. Bonnie leaned against Shego, but she took Kim’s hand and clutched it tightly, as if she hung from a building and Kim was the only one that could pull her up. 

“Why are they like that to me? What did I ever do to them? Why do they hate me so much?” Bonnie begged the air, wishing her lovers had answers for her. Her heart and soul desperately desired to know why her family treated her as they did.

“It’s okay, Duchess. I promise you, everything’s going to be fine, Duchess,” Shego found herself saying while holding the younger woman in the most reassuring grip she could muster. She did not know what else to offer. She did not have the answers Bonnie sought and she doubted she ever would. 

“We’re here for you,” Kim promised, showing she did not have much in the way of supportive dialogue either. She was just forced to point out the obvious.

“I know. I know. Thank you both,” Bonnie replied sincerely, curling in closer to Shego. She was not sure what she would do in life if she did not have Kim and Shego. She probably would have given up on life, thinking no one could ever truly love her if she did not have Kim and Shego with her now.

Shego and Kim just waved her off. “You never have to thank us,” Kim whispered and kissed the side of her head. 

“We love you,” Shego said, thinking Bonnie needed to hear that aloud.

“Love you with everything inside of us and always will,” Kim promised. 

Bonnie fell asleep before them that night, worn out from the emotional toll that was taken on her. She felt like she had been dragged through miles and miles of broken glass and it haunted her in her sleep. Kim and Shego stared down at her in her sleep, where she still looked slightly tense. 

“I can’t believe you hit that bitch before I could even move,” Shego commented in a low tone as they settled into bed, each on an opposite side of Bonnie. She was impressed and envious that Kim knocked out a tooth from Connie’s mouth, too. She ran her fingers through Bonnie’s silken locks, loving the feel of them on her fingertips.

“That had been building since I met those jackasses,” Kim admitted, sounding neutral on the subject, neither proud nor ashamed. Her hand rested on Bonnie’s shoulder, gently caressing the attorney in her sleep.

Shego nodded, understanding how that was possible. She had only met the Rockwaller siblings twice, but Kim had to deal with them for _years_. She had to stand there and watch what they did to Bonnie for years. Shego was not sure how Kim made it. 

“I don’t know where you get all of this patience from, Princess, but you must’ve been a saint or something in a past life,” Shego remarked.

“Why a past life? Why not now?” Kim teased a bit.

“Saints tend to avoid punching people in the mouth, splitting their lip open, knocking out their teeth, and then standing over the person as if saying ‘you’re my bitch now,’“ the pale woman replied with a warm smile. “Besides, I think it’s against the rules for a saint to be as sexy as you are anyway, especially when you’re punching the shit out of people.” 

Kim chuckled a little bit and they were silent again. They focused on Bonnie, both still caressing her. They silently promised to be all of the family that she needed, to always be there for her, and to never make her feel as if she was lesser than they were. Sure, they could not fathom her pain, not coming from remotely similar situations, but they could empathize with her and they could love and support her.

“I didn’t mean to hurt her,” Kim said. 

“You didn’t hurt her, Princess. Those bastards hurt her. Her brothers and sisters constantly tearing her down hurt her. Her mother’s silence hurt her. Her parents were supposed to squash that shit the second it started,” Shego replied.

“But, I encouraged her to see them.”

Shego snorted. “Because you believed in them. It’s not wrong to believe in someone and you’re right. People shouldn’t just throw away family. Unfortunately, those jackass threw Bonnie away.”

Kim sighed and looked down at Bonnie. “They’re so stupid to throw away someone so precious.”

“Some people are just stupid and do stupid shit like that. None of this was your fault,” Shego replied.

Kim nodded, even though she did not totally agree. Eventually Kim fell asleep, the turmoil of the day catching up to her. Shego looked at both of her girlfriends and chuckled a bit before smiling fondly at them. She then turned over and reached for the phone, which had somehow found its way to her side of the bed again.

“This thing must have legs or something,” she mumbled as she dialed a number. “Hey, Mommy, how you doing? …I just called to say ‘hi.’ …I know that’s weird. Don’t make a big fucking thing out of it, though. You around any of the guys?” she asked. By guys, she meant her father or her brothers. “Tell them to get on the phone, too… I just want to say hi. Stop asking so many damn questions.”

-8-8-8-8-

Bonnie woke up to warm embraces, which she had expected. She wished she could snuggle into both, but that was not possible. But, the next best thing happened, her lovers drew closer to her. 

“You slept longer than usual,” Shego commented for lack of a better thing to say.

“You feel okay?” Kim asked with concern in her voice. 

“I feel much better,” Bonnie answered honestly. Better did not equal fine, but she knew she would be fine sooner or later. She had support and she was strong. Her siblings had yet to break her and she was not going to give them the satisfaction when she was doing so well in life.

“You want anything?” Shego offered.

“Just to stay here for the whole day,” Bonnie replied with an oddly soft smile as she reached her hands up, placing one on each of her girlfriends’ arms that were protectively around her. 

“Done,” the two martial artists said.

“Baby, I’m sorry about that,” Kim apologized. If she had not been so insistent, they never would have even gone to the house.

“It’s not your fault, Kim. Don’t even think about feeling guilty or something, Possible,” Bonnie commanded in her usual strong voice. Shego smiled, glad Bonnie backed up what she told Kim last night. 

“Throwing the thought away right now,” Kim replied with a slightly embarrassed smile. They were all silent for a while before Kim just had to say one thing that had been on her mind since last night. “I can’t believe Johnnie is dating Brick Flagg.”

“It’s a bit of a surprise,” Bonnie agreed. 

“I never would’ve guessed Brick was gay,” Kim commented.

“Baby, you didn’t even guess you were gay,” Bonnie teased a bit. 

“It’s a lot easier to figure out when you’re kissing me at all kinds of random times before I even took you on a real date,” the redhead remarked. “Since you dated Brick, did you ever suspect?”

That was enough to get Shego interested in the conversation. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, you dated that guy?” she demanded. 

“ _Dated_ , sweetie. Past tense, as in not happening anymore. Kim dated him, too, kind of anyway, which was sorta how I ended up dating him,” Bonnie replied.

“What?” both Kim and Shego asked with perplexed expressions knotting up their faces. 

“I didn’t want him near Kimmie. So, I started dating him to keep him away from her. I was going to do the same thing with Josh Mankey. Hell, I even kissed Stoppable to try to get him away from you,” Bonnie stated, making face on that last one.

“I thought you kissed Ron because Brick broke up with you,” Kim pointed out. 

“Well, sure, that’s what I wanted you to think. I didn’t give a damn about Brick. I knew he was gay since junior year. He figured out that I was in love with you around the same time,” Bonnie countered.

“Brick Flagg figured out you loved me?” Kim was so incredulous that she could not even add to that beyond the echo.

“He’s not as dumb as he seems. He can figure people out pretty well. It’s books that confuse him. When I called him on being gay, he got kind of mad that I figured it out and tried to turn things on me, pointing out that I was, too, and taking a step further to utter words that were totally taboo to me back then, telling me I was in love with you. Caused us to break up for a little while, but then we got back together, figuring out that what better way to hide what we were than to be together. I mean, a gay football player and a lesbian cheerleader wouldn’t have been the move, but we knew no one would figure us out if we stayed together.”

“I guess being a gay quarterback wouldn’t sit too well anywhere,” Kim remarked in a mumble. “But, you guys were always all over each other and everything.”

“Didn’t it seem that we were a little _too_ public with our relationship?” Bonnie said. She was especially clingy and affection with Brick when Kim was around back then, sometimes lying it on more thickly than she meant to. 

“Um…” Kim was not sure how to answer that.

“You’re so naïve, Kimmie,” Shego chuckled, reaching over to run her free hand up and down Kim’s arm. 

Kim huffed and turned up her mouth. “Am not.” Some things just went over her head.

“Don’t worry, we love you that way,” Bonnie commented with a soft smile. 

“We love you, too,” Kim and Shego assured the lawyer. “And we always will. You’re an amazing woman and we’re lucky to have you.”

“I know and I know I’m lucky to have you two, even if you don’t know how to act,” Bonnie teased and they laughed a little.

Bonnie had absolute faith they would always love her and they would always be there for her. It was because of that she knew the wounds dealt to her last night would heal. She would go on and she would be loved.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: a brief intermission.


	15. Intermission II: Fork in the Road

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own these characters… well, most of them anyway. I do own Isabel, Kane, Manny, Jason, and Isabella. 
> 
> Warning: this is a continuation of chapter 10, so you might wanna reread that to refresh your memory.
> 
> Also, I just wanna remind you guys that this is a separate universe from my other stories, despite the similarities that are now popping up.

15: Intermission II: Fork in the Road

Eighteen-year-old Kane Go was having lunch with his good friend Manny. They were sitting at an outdoor café. They were dressed in shorts and sleeveless t-shirts because it was blazing hot, which was surprising for the end of the summer.

“So, what’s the deal with the movie? You finished shooting and everything?” Kane asked curiously while jamming a fist full of fries in his mouth. It was hard to believe that the man was of noble birth. 

“Yeah, finished that last month. It’s a good thing, too,” Manny answered while adjusting the brim of his white baseball cap. He bent it more, giving it more of a curve.

“Why is it a good thing?” Kane inquired as he picked up his soda to help the fries go down.

“The woman that hates your guts, remember her?” the taller man countered as he leaned forward a bit.

Kane sighed, a dreamy look clouding his eyes. “Bella …” he whispered fondly. He still had dreams about his night with her, and he lost a lot of sleep and had to do a lot of laundry thanks to them.

“Yeah …Bella,’“ Manny commented dryly while shaking his head. “Still a glutton for punishment, I see.”

“Especially when it comes to her. So, what happened with her?” Kane asked, sounding almost concerned. He hoped that his friend did not have bad news about his goddess.

“She started getting sick toward the end of the filming. She had to go back home. I heard a rumor that she’s actually pregnant,” the taller male explained with an awkward chuckle. “Can’t imagine her with a kid, but then again, I couldn’t really imagine her mom with a kid either when I met her. Just a scary-ass family, that is.” He shook his head.

“Pregnant?” Kane echoed with his face scrunched up. _Could it really be true? No, she would’ve said something to me, right? Come on_ ; his brain pointed out that it was Isabel he was thinking about. _Of course she’s not going to say anything! She’s going to be difficult, doy!_

“Yeah, pregnant. I can’t believe it. I mean, I can’t imagine what kinda little monster Iz would have,” Manny remarked with a laugh. He could imagine a mini-version of her walking about, scaring the shit out of people…sort of like she was with her own mother.

“How many months?” the auburn-haired teen asked curiously.

“I dunno. She’s real secretive about shit. Rumors say she’s not that far along, like three months or some shit like that. I dunno,” Manny repeated with a shrug. “Good thing I finished my movie before this shit came up. The fight scenes she made are fucking awesome. You gotta see this movie.” He beamed as he spoke, a large grin plastered on his face.

Kane was more thinking about the rumors of Isabel being pregnant than anything else coming out of Manny’s mouth about his movie. But, he did manage to respond, “I’ll be in the States soon. I wanna go rafting down the Colorado River, anyway.”

“Well, you need to stop by my place first. See the movie before you try to kill yourself,” the skinny, chocolate-colored male commented with a friendly, but teasing smile.

“I don’t know about that,” Kane said, considering what he was already planning. Death might be in the cards as soon as he touched down in the States.

Manny’s face twisted a bit as he curled his mouth up. “Why?”

Kane answered quite honestly with a straight face and everything. “Well, my hope is that you’ll drop Bella’s address on me and I can see her before anything else.”

Manny grimaced. “What the hell do you wanna see her for? She kicked your ass the last time you paid her a little attention,” he pointed out in a frantic tone while moving his hands about wildly. “As crazy and annoying as you are, Kane, I don’t want you dead or something and you know that’s what’ll happen if you bother Isabel again! She will fucking kill you and then eat you to make sure you’re gone! I mean, don’t get me wrong, she be sweet as hell, but she’s demonic and she’ll kill you. Fucking kill you. You don’t want no parts of that.”

Kane did not miss a beat and threw on his best insane grin. “I miss the attention from a very beautiful woman.”

“Kane … the woman hates you,” Manny reminded him bluntly. He was not looking to spare Kane’s feelings because he wanted to discourage the smaller male from thinking about Isabel again. As far as Manny knew, the last time Isabel and Kane interacted with each other, Kane was almost beaten to death. The only reason he survived was because Isabel seemed to be disgusted with beating on an obviously defeated opponent.

“Hate is a relative term,” Kane remarked with a laugh. His royal purple eyes had the nerve to shine.

Manny could not believe the man sitting across from him and openly gawked at Kane as if he was some kind of moron. “Relative? The woman whipped your stocky ass in your own home the last time she spoke to you.”

Kane shrugged. “That may be, but I have unfinished business with Bella,” he stated. “So, if you would just give me her address, I won’t even tell her whodunit.”

“You damn right you won’t!” Manny hollered quite seriously. He could only imagine what would happen to him if Isabel knew that he told an annoyance like Kane where she lived.

The short male smiled. “So, that’s a yes?”

Manny sighed. “I’m not coming to your funeral,” he grumbled. “Gimme a goddamn pen and paper.”

Kane smiled and supplied his friend with the requested items. Manny wrote down an address and tried to warn Kane that he would find Isabel there and someone much worse than Isabel, too. Kane waved him off; _who could possibly be worse than my Bella?_

“You are such a dead man. They’ll probably never even find your body. I wanted you to see the movie too,” Manny sighed miserably while shaking his head.

-8-8-8-8-

“Hold on!” Isabel barked as a rhythmic pounding was beaten on the poor front door. Heaven knew the damned thing took enough abuse from her and her sister, so it did not need strangers trying to murder it.

The knocking did not stop, much to her annoyance. She growled as she nearly ripped the door off the hinges when she opened it, not bothering to find out who was there first. Her eyebrow twitched as a scowl set in on her face and she was about to scream her head off at the dead man on her front porch, but she stopped when she saw who it was.

“Hey, Bella,” Kane greeted her with his usual dopey grin. He looked a little less like a bum for once. He was dressed neatly in matching clothes, which were just some dark blue jean shorts and a basketball jersey with a matching cap. He was holding a surprise, too – a bouquet of flowers.

“Kane, what the fuck are you doing here? And what the fuck are those?” Isabel demanded as she glared at the flowers. She folded her arms across her chest as her stance became defensive and tense.

“Peace offering?” Kane said with a pathetic shrug, not knowing what else to say or do. A voice in the back of his head told him that flowers were not the way to go with Isabel, but he figured that it would be better than showing up on her door with an engagement ring. Flowers would probably just get him punched while an expensive ring probably would have more than likely gotten him sent to the hospital.

“I think we’ve had enough ‘peace’ between us, don’t you think?” Isabel inquired, sounding a bit bitter, much to his surprise.

Kane blinked hard. “I don’t think there’d ever be enough ‘peace’ between us if that’s the case,” he remarked, lecherous grin in place.

Isabel fell right in line, punching him hard in the shoulder. “Idiot,” she grumbled.

“Izzie, who is that?” a voice called from the back of the house.

“Nobody!” Isabel replied, looking Kane dead in the eye.

Kane pretended to pout. “So mean to me!” he whined, making two tight fists. “Izzie, huh? That’s a cute nickname, but I like Bella so much better.” He grinned and wiggled his eyebrows at her.

Isabel growled. “Kane, if you don’t get the fuck off my doorstep in the next five seconds, I’m shoving those flowers up your ass and punching your fucking teeth down your throat,” she promised him.

The auburn-haired teen actually had to think about it, scratching the side of his face as he did so, which just annoyed Isabel further. _What the hell is there to think about? What the hell is wrong with Kane and why the hell is he even here?_ Her eyebrow twitched again and then she turned her head sharply, looking into the house. She could hear footsteps approaching.

“Kane, leave me the fuck alone,” Isabel order and was about to slam the door in his face, but he seemed to sense the move coming.

The short male put his foot in the door and grunted as he almost lost his toes. He caught the door with his hand now that his foot gave him some space to do so. He stared at Isabel with big, concerned violet eyes.

“Bella, why are you acting like this?” he asked in a rare moment of seriousness. He understood that they were not quite friends, but he thought that they had parted on better terms than Isabel was displaying.

“Kane, please,” Isabel begged him in a surprisingly gentle tone. Her eyes pled with him to just leave, save himself.

“Bella,” he repeated, not taking the hint.

“Izzie, what the hell are you doing? I thought you said there was no one at the door.”

“Dammit,” Isabel muttered and she turned around to face a woman that she pretty much looked just like, except they had different eye color.

Isabel’s mother was a tall, pale woman just like she was. Her hair was black and down her back, just like Isabel’s onyx mane. They looked so similar that it only made sense that Isabel would be named after the woman. They stood the same, like they could take out a bus at full speed. They even seemed to give off the same aura; a frightening, crushing air surrounded both of them. It was almost like it should have been against the laws of physics for them to be in a room together without blowing the place apart.

The only marked difference between the mother and daughter was that her mother’s eyes were blue, like the sky, except just a bit darker. There seemed to be something just beyond the color in her eyes, something dangerous, almost mean. It was something that hid in Isabel’s jade eyes as well.

“I was just sending this crazy man away, Mommy,” the younger woman replied while making a hand movement as if she was shooing the teenage boy away.

“Crazy man?” Isabel’s mother, Isabella, echoed curiously with an arched eyebrow. She then turned her eyes to Kane. Her sapphire gaze fell hard onto the auburn-haired teen and she studied him for a moment.

Isabella saw the look in his odd purple eyes, a pleading gaze, and the flowers in his hands. He did not flinch under her gaze like most people did. He was not paying much attention to her stare, actually. His eyes stayed trained on her daughter. She arched an eyebrow briefly because of his behavior. _Interesting_ , she thought; _well, slightly interesting, anyway_.

“Yeah, crazy man,” Isabel insisted, nodding to emphasize her point.

“Step away from the door, Isabella,” her mother commanded without bothering to look at her daughter.

The use of her full name told Isabel not to argue with her mother. So, she wisely stepped away from the door. The older woman opened the door wider to fully take in Kane. She looked at him blandly, not impressed with the little man. He still did not react to her gaze.

“What can I do for you?” Isabella asked the male teen.

“I’m kinda here to talk to Isabel,” he explained, nodding toward the aforementioned female.

“Why don’t you come in then,” Isabella suggested, motioning to the inside of the house. She was curious about the young man and wondered why her daughter was trying to so hard to keep her from finding out about him.

Kane shrugged. “That’d be great,” he agreed, even though Isabel was cutting him a come-in-and-die look.

Isabel growled and threw her hands up in defeat. Then she decided that if he wanted to die, that was his decision. _I am not the little idiot’s keeper, after all_.

“Take your shoes off,” Isabella ordered while she walked deeper into the house, expecting Kane to follow.

Kane nodded and stepped in. He looked to the side to see there was a mat for shoes. He kicked off his sneakers and placed them next to the other shoes while Isabel closed the door. He then turned to her with his dopey grin back in place.

“I can see why you look so good. Your mom is fucking hot,” Kane commented without shame.

Isabella heard the remark and whipped around just to in time to see her daughter punching Kane in the face. He fell back against the door, but continued smiling. Isabel frowned and it seemed like there was smoke coming from her head, but underneath that it looked like the faintest smile was trying to tug at her lips. Isabella just took in the sight instead of saying anything. 

“Idiot,” Isabel grumbled while walking into the living room after her mother.

Kane continued to grin, as if he missed being hit by the pale teenager. He removed himself from the door and trotted behind Isabel like a happy, proud puppy. The group retreated into the living room, which was painted a warm and very light blue. The carpet was almost white, but it was clearly a powder blue undertone to it.

He saw the mother and daughter sit down on the sofa, which was white. They sat in the same posture perfect, cross-legged manner. He scratched the side of his head while taking a seat in an armchair right next to the sofa.

“So, what business do you have with Isabel?” Isabella asked curiously while resting her hands on her knee.

“Um … well, it’s kinda personal,” Kane admitted. Apparently, he did have some sense of decency.

“I would assume so if you tracked her down at her home,” Isabella commented dryly. “Not many souls would brave coming to our house, no matter what the reason.”

“How did you get my address?” Isabel demanded, glaring at him. Her expression implied anger, but it seemed like she was forcing it.

“I’ve taken a vow to never reveal my source, even under threat of torture … no matter how sweet it is,” Kane replied, toothy grin in place.

“Pervert!” Isabel huffed, knowing just what he was talking about. “How about I just beat it out of you?” she proposed with a wicked smirk, holding up a ready fist.

“You only get one, Bella,” he remarked with a shrug. 

“Last time I think I got more than one,” she reminded him.

“I know, you got two, right? Or was it three?” he asked with a clever smile, referring to something else entirely. She got what he was implying.

“I will fucking kill you and bury you under the house,” Isabel promised with a primal growl. _How dare he say something so vulgar with my damn mother sitting right there!_

Kane grinned, as if he was utterly delighted with that plan. “Wonderful! My ghost could haunt the place and I could watch you in your sleep. Or better still, I could watch you in the shower!”

And that earned the young man a solid punch on the top of the head from Isabel. He fell out of his seat and onto his flowers, crushing them. He frowned as he noticed rose petals falling onto the white carpet as he stood back up.

Isabella just took in the strange sight of her daughter interacting with the almost tiny young man. Isabel did not seem to be pulling her punches with him, yet he seemed to enjoy that she was hitting him. Isabella guessed that he enjoyed it for the simple fact that he was purposely saying things that he knew would get him hit. _Odd fellow_ , she thought.

“Guess giving you a smashed bouquet is kinda stupid, eh?” he asked with a bright smile.

Isabel growled while her eyebrow twitched again. _What the hell was wrong with him!_ “I don’t want your stupid flowers. What the fuck are you doing here, Kane?” she demanded to know as she sat back down.

“I kinda figured you wouldn’t want the flowers. Can I talk to you in private?” Kane requested in a serious tone.

Isabel glanced at her mother, who she could tell was not about to move. “This is about as private as things’re going to get for us,” she told him. They would get even less privacy if her sister came home sometime soon.

He chuckled a bit, sounding uncomfortable for once. Isabel cut him a look that said “I told you to leave earlier, idiot, and now look at your predicament.” He was not so put off and decided to cut to the chase rather than playing around.

“Um … so, I heard a little rumor about you,” he said; his voice came out in a grumble, despite his effort at sounding normal.

“There are a lot of rumors about me,” Isabel replied smoothly. She was not lying. She knew a lot of people, but she was not really friends with any of them, so they were all inclined to talk behind her back whenever they could. They rarely said good things, thinking that their words never got back to her.

“This is one is about you being … um … pregnant,” he informed her.

Isabel kept on a stoic mask, but on the inside her heart pumped at an uncomfortable pace. “Who did you hear that from?” she managed to ask in her disinterested tone.

“Doesn’t matter who. Is it true?”

“What does it matter to you?” she countered with an attitude.

“Well, I was just—” he was cut off by the other teen.

“It’s not yours, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

Kane’s expression and how face actually fell from those words, which stunned the mother and daughter. They did not address how his whole mood seemed to come down. Kane tried to collect himself as he spoke again, but he sounded like a shadow of his former self. 

“Oh … okay. Um … sorry I bothered you …” Kane muttered as he rose to his feet in an almost mechanical manner. He still clutched his crushed bouquet to the point where his palm was being torn into by the flower stems.

Kane started for the door and Isabella cut her daughter a glare. The look seemed to be demanding to know what all that was about, but Isabel was not paying attention to her mother. She was watching Kane leave and taking in his defeated his spirit. He reminded her of when she beat him up, except ten times worse.

 _Does he want it to be his?_ Isabel wondered. “Kane, wait,” she called to him and rushed to his side.

“Yeah?” he asked in a low, sorrowful tone. His voice cracked as he spoke and he looked up at her with broken violet eyes.

“Um … maybe there’s a small chance that it is yours,” Isabel informed him in a low voice of her own. She glanced back to see if her mother was watching them. She gulped when she saw that Isabella was brazenly and intently listening in on their conversation.

“Small chance?” he inquired, sounding confused. He squinted a little, as if that would help him comprehend what she meant.

“Look, I never got the chance to explain to you, but I’ve got a somewhat steady boyfriend. The baby might be his,” she explained to him, looking down as if she was ashamed to admit such a thing. 

Kane seemed to perk up, even though he was just hearing about her having a boyfriend. “But, it might be mine?” he asked with hope.

“Yeah, it might be. Don’t get your hopes up, though. Not like I want anything to do with you, anyway,” she remarked, trying her best to sound like she meant that. “I mean, I don’t even like you.”

“Obviously,” he commented with a laugh.

“Look, you little perv, I don’t like you. This wasn’t supposed to happen and the baby’s not yours, anyway. You should just go back to your own country and leave me the hell alone,” she huffed, holding her arms across her chest.

“We’ll see about that,” he replied with a smile.

“Shut up and get the hell out,” she commanded, pointing to the door and forgetting that not even thirty seconds ago she actually felt sorry for him.

Kane saluted and did as ordered, surprisingly not saying anything to get his ass kicked on the way out. He did force Isabel to take the flowers from him. She rolled her eyes, but she did not get rid of the bouquet, even when he was out the door and out of sight.

“So, cheating on Jason now?” Isabella asked in her usual neutral tone from her space on the couch. She did not sound judgmental or angry, nor did she look it.

“It was just a moment of weakness,” Isabel replied dismissively.

Isabella looked rather skeptical on that one. “This moment looks like it has two arms, two legs, a foul mouth, and odd fashion sense. The moment follows you around quite devotedly too, showing up at the house.”

“I don’t like him,” Isabel stated soundly through gritted teeth.

“Yet he might be the father of your unborn child. It’s not like you to even speak with someone you don’t like … except that pig of a man you date anyway. Not that your tastes seem to have improved with this new pest,” the mother remarked blandly. She was not too sure about Kane, but she did know that she did not like his comments about her looks to Isabel. There seemed to be something off about that kid.

Isabella did silently admit to herself that it would take more than some off-color comments to drop Kane down to Jason’s level, though. Kane did not carry that horrible air of entitlement and condescending attitude that Jason held like it was a trophy. Instead, Kane came with an aura of strange delight, happiness, and adventure. The mix did not work well from what she could tell.

“You don’t know the half of it,” Isabel muttered while looking down at her bouquet of white and red roses. _What new hell have I gotten myself into?_

-8-8-8-8-

Kane was smiling despite the fact that he had just found out rather disturbing news. It was not the fact that he might be a father, no. In fact, that possibility was why he was smiling. The disturbing news was that Isabel was in a relationship.

“My Bella is taken. This is … distressing,” he muttered to himself, but he continued on smiling.

His heart should have shaken in his chest, but it did not. Instead, he felt an odd sense of pride, even though he knew that he should feel shamed. He had slept with a taken woman, possibly impregnated her, but he did not feel that way. He felt like she chose to be with him, even though she had a boyfriend. She had picked him; his goddess picked him instead of pushing him away.

“And now she might even give me a baby.” Kane sighed dreamily. “She truly is a goddess.”

It did not even cross his mind that the baby might not be his, despite the fact that Isabel told him twice quite bluntly that the baby was not his. He was already thinking about names and clothes and just everything. _Things are gonna be great_ , he thought with a big, silly grin.

-8-8-8-8-

“Have you told Jason of this little predicament you’ve worked yourself into?” Isabella asked her daughter curiously.

It had been a little less than a week when the older woman found out that Isabel might have gotten herself knocked up by a strange little Italian boy named Kane. She still could not decide if he was better than Jason being the father. She was starting to think that Isabel should just go with her other options, especially since a child would interfere with her budding career as a martial arts choreographer. Not to mention, a child would interfere with her martial arts training, which was beyond important to their family… Despite those things, Isabella did secretly want her daughter to have the baby.

Isabella would love nothing more than to have a grandchild. Despite how big, bad, and scary she liked to act, she did not mind children. She adored them actually. She had two of her own and treated them rather good in her opinion. Sure, they were scared out of their minds of her, but she felt that was more their faults than hers. They would argue much differently.

“I’m going to tell Jason today,” Isabel replied with a sigh. They were standing on the front porch of their modest home and staring out onto the well cared for lawn. Isabel was would be moving out as soon as she found a place of her own. She was eighteen now, which in her opinion, meant that it was time to leave the nest, pregnancy or no pregnancy. She wondered how life would be on her own … with a baby. She did not think too hard on it, just allowing her natural confidence to carry her through things.

“I’d say good luck, but I’d be lying,” Isabella commented banefully as she turned in an elegant motion, her ebony mane twisting around her like a meandering river, and went back in the house.

Isabella shook her head as she made her way inside. She did not care about the wishes that were currently running through her head, which were that Isabel ended up breaking up with Jason due to her current predicament. Isabella held no love whatsoever for Jason.

She had only met the young man once, but that was enough to last quite a few lifetimes. He did not say anything particularly offensive to her when they met, but everything about him rubbed her the wrong way. The haughty look that never left his eyes, the holier-than-thou attitude that was glued to every move that he made, and the pompous, almost patronizing way that he spoke screamed of reason enough to beat his head into his ass, as far as Isabella was concerned. Her younger daughter was in agreement, as was Isabel more than half the time.

Out of that one meeting, Isabella had to be restrained by her daughters from hurting Jason. He was banned from the house and Isabella promised the next time that she saw him would not be a good one for him. It did not seem like he took her warning seriously, like he thought she was a joke. But, he wisely never returned to the house.

“And to think, she might be making this jackass a part of our family if that baby is actually his,” Isabella grumbled to herself, which let to an even more horrifying thought. “What if she marries the bastard?!” Blue eyes went wide with terror and her mouth dropped open.

Isabella quickly shook that away. She would not allow Isabel to marry Jason if the idea ever entered her head, baby or no baby. There would just be no way for her to stand that.

“Dare I hope that the baby is actually that Kane boy’s child?” Isabella wondered aloud. She still was not totally sure how she felt about Kane, but he was a step up from Jason, so she decided to go with that. At least Kane was not an arrogant, insufferable bastard.

-8-8-8-8-

Isabel expected as much from her mother, leaving while making a snide remark. She called for a cab, which showed up minutes later. She took the long ride to Jason’s dorm. Usually, she would take the train to gather her thoughts and everything, but right now, the less time she had to think about things, the better. She would only piss herself off, thinking about all of the bad ways Jason could and would handle things.

Jason was a university student, and very proud of it. He threw the information around like it would get him laid, Isabel often thought. He tried to talk her into attending, sometimes implying that she was stupid for not going to college or at least that people might assume she was stupid for not being in college. She typically countered with the fact that people went to college to get good jobs, which she already had. He would then try to downplay her job since she did not have a regular, nine-to-five style career.

She supposed that it did not help Jason’s attitude that he was a popular football player, too. Not being too engrossed in collegiate pastimes, she did not really know what position he played, even though she went to all of his games. As far as she could tell, the ball went up in the air, he ran, and caught it and people loved him for that. She failed to see the big deal, but other girls would beg to differ.

Jason was quite popular with the ladies around his campus. Isabel typically did not care, although on rare occasions a little green-eyed monster would pop up in her mind. It was a very scary sight for anyone to have to deal with an upset and jealous Isabel, but she usually reduced girls to tears for hitting on Jason if she was in the right mindset for it. Little did she know, but actions like that impressed him and made him swear that she loved him, like he loved her. Of course, there were times when she doubted he knew what love was and she doubted that he loved her.

“I think he confuses his want to possess me with the idea that he loves me,” she muttered to herself. “Of course, I have to confuse something with something to still be with him most of the time.”

Isabel arrived at his dorm a little over a half-hour later. She knocked and the door was opened immediately; she was expected. Jason stood in the room, smiling as she stepped in. She doubted that he would be smiling for long.

Jason looked quite like the football player that he was: tall, with broad shoulders, and muscular, which he was showing off with his clothing. He was only wearing a pair of basketball shorts, leaving nothing to the imagination as far his arms and chest looked. He had thick muscles and rock hard abs. Isabel found herself thinking a very chilling thought: she liked Kane’s body more, even though she had only seen his body once.

Girls almost always swooned over Jason when laying eyes on him. His deep blue eyes and shiny ebony hair gave him a handsome look already, but then he had a strong jaw to go with it. He had almost statuesque features and he seemed to know it. There always seemed to be a knowing smirk on his face, especially when someone paid some attention to him.

“Hey, Iz,” Jason greeted her with a smile and a small, sweet kiss on the lips. She barely returned the gesture.

“Hey, dearest,” Isabel replied in a mumble. “We need to talk.”

“About what?” he asked curiously while motioning to a chair for her to sit down. When she did not, he frowned a little and pushed the chair toward her. His frown deepened when she still refused his gesture.

“About the baby.”

Jason grunted and nodded. “What about the baby?” he inquired, sounding a bit annoyed. There was a spark of irritation in his eyes, too. She had already told him that she was pregnant, which was a rollercoaster ride all its own and he had left it pretty clear where he stood on them having a child. It had almost led to his death in fact and he was well aware of that. Yet, he still could not control his reactions at the mention of the pregnancy.

“It might not be yours,” she informed him, sounding almost as if that information was trivial.

Jason stepped back with his mouth gaped open. His deep blue eyes were wide. “What?”

She dared to repeat it. “The baby might not be yours.” _Why should he care, anyway? It was more than clear that he_ _didn’t want the baby when I told him_.

“What do you mean the baby might not be mine?” he demanded through gritted teeth. The only reason he was not yelling because the last thing he wanted was for his whole dorm to know that he was dating a whore! Funny thing was that they were speaking about the very same issue that almost got him killed when he found out that she was pregnant. “I asked you if I was the damn father and you looked at me like I was evil and like you’d have shot me with a damn cannon for even suggesting that!”

“While I was away in Italy, there was this guy…” she tried to explain, but he cut her off.

“What the heck do you mean ‘there was this guy’? You slept with some greasy, random Italian guy?” he hissed harshly. His whole body was tense, veins bulging from his neck and forehead, and his hands were balled up into tight, shaking fists.

“He wasn’t random,” she countered defensively, almost as if she were offended that he would suggest such a thing. She had gotten to know Kane a little bit before jumping in the bed with him … _not that that makes things better_ , she mentally conceded.

“He wasn’t me!” he roared in a fury. He glared down at her as if she was the lowest life form he had ever encountered.

“No shit,” she concurred. _That was probably one of the contributing factors in what happened_ , she remarked in her head.

“How can you do this to me? What the hell is wrong with you? You’re like your sister, you know that!” he shouted in a fury. A rush of red shot up his neck and enflamed his face.

Isabel’s eyes narrowed and she glared daggers at her boyfriend. “What do you mean by that?” she asked in a dangerous tone. Jason was too far gone to realize his life was on the line with his next response.

“You’re a harlot! A whore! How many other guys have you opened your legs for since we’ve been going out?” he huffed and she did not try to respond. He just kept going. “I can’t believeyou’re so easy! I should’ve known, though! I mean, look how you dress half the time! Look at the house you come from? You don’t even have a father, so of course you wouldn’t know a good man when you got one! You probably barely finished high school because you were too busy being on your back!What kind of diseases do you have? What the hell could you have given me? And then you try to pawn some guy’s baby off to me! You’re a lying whore at that! So, how many guys, huh?” he demanded.

Isabel did not bother to answer him, unless punching him directly in the jaw counted as such. A tooth flew out of his mouth as his head snapped back and he fell like a big stone. _Guess his jaw isn’t as strong as it looks. Kane would’ve taken that and fucking smiled at me right after_. Isabel walked out of the dorm room, not bothering to check on him. She scowled deeply, unable to utter a word until she was well away from him.

“Fucking prick,” Isabel growled.

-8-8-8-8- 

Isabella could guess how things went with Jason when she saw her daughter’s face. She did not bother with asking about it, but she did want to know one thing. Part of her again dared to hope that Jason was out of the picture. She had never met a more annoying man in all of her life, and she had met plenty of men.

“Fuck,” Isabel groaned as she threw herself down onto the sofa.

“You killed him?” Isabella asked, holding her usual bland tone. She was ready to cheer on the inside if her daughter confirmed that Jason was dead.

“Just knocked him out … unless his skull isn’t as thick as he makes it seem,” the younger woman remarked.

Her mother nodded slightly. “So, what’re you going to do?”

“Maybe having this baby isn’t the best idea. I mean, Jason thinks I’m a whore and I lied to him about the baby being his and Kane … Kane’s not ready to be a father from what I can tell. I mean, the guy’s pretty much insane and really immature,” Isabel answered and she felt like she was being nice just saying that. Something was definitely wrong with Kane, she believed.

Isabella would not argue that Kane was not insane. From what she could tell, he was very much that, especially considering the fact that he hunted her daughter down and came to the house. Instead, she went with saying something that she knew would bother her daughter.

“At least he’s cute,” Isabella commented with a shrug.

“Mommy!” Isabel shouted in horror. Her mother thinking some guy she slept with was cute was the last thing she wanted to hear.

Isabella was very close to laughing at her daughter’s reaction, but she held it in. “You know, there are other options,” she pointed out, keeping her usual tone. She had already made the suggestion that was on her mind.

Isabel nodded, but she was frowning. The other options did not appeal to her, which her mother already knew. After all, Isabel had insisted that she was having the baby when she found out that she was pregnant. She hated to even hear the word “abortion” and had only let her mother utter it to her once, but then she had practically cut her mother in half with her words when she had stated that she was having the baby.

“If I have to, I’ll raise this baby by myself,” Isabel commented as if it was no big deal. “You raised two children on your own, so why can’t I do the same?”

“You should try to get the father in on the act if you can. A child deserves a good father and someone needs to take responsibility for knocking you up,” Isabella stated quite seriously.

 _A good father_ , Isabel echoed in her head. She had to choice between Jason and Kane. A jerk and a madman. She started to weigh her options in her head, comparing Jason to Kane. Jason seemed like he would take responsibility for the baby, but only if he was the father, because he envisioned himself a gentleman and he thought of himself as a man. He knew that a man took responsibility for his actions. So, it seemed like he would at least stick around, but he would probably resent both her and the child since he did not want the baby in the first place. Not to mention, he did not seem to think too highly of her. She could not say the same of Kane.

Kane was a party guy, from what she could tell. He liked going out every night, drinking, dancing, and generally flirting with anyone who had curves. Hell, she had once seen him hitting on an effeminate looking guy without shame. His hobbies seemed to include trying to get himself killed, saying inappropriate things to her, and trying to talk moderately attractive people out of their clothes. He did not sound like he had the makings good father.

Isabel was taken from her thoughts by someone going crazy on the front door. She could guess who that was. _Speak of the devil and he will appear_ , she thought with a chuckle as she got up to see who was there. She was not surprised to find Kane standing on the front porch with his usual stupid smile and holding some bags.

“Kane, what do you want now?” Isabel asked with a tired sigh.

“I bought diapers!” Kane explained with a large, happy smile, holding up the bags in his hands. He sounded so proud of himself a passerby might have thought he cured cancer.

“You bought … diapers?” Isabel echoed in a confused tone, like she had no clue why he might do such a thing. Well, really, she did nothave a clue why he would do such a thing. It did not occur to her that a guy might take an interest in his child considering Jason had shown very little interest in the baby since finding out that she was pregnant.

“Well, I was gonna buy baby clothes, but then I realized I didn’t know what we were having. So, I asked a girl that worked at the little baby store place what I should get and she told me that we’ll need lots of diapers no matter what. So, now our baby is prepared for all the necessary wetting itself he’ll probably do,” he explained, still smiling.

“Kane …” she sighed and shook her head like he had done something wrong. She could not believe that in less than a week, he was already buying stuff for a baby that might not be his. Jason had known about the baby for almost a month and had not prepared in any noticeable way for the child. Jason also did not make it a habit to refer to the baby as “ours” either, as Kane seemed to adopt. _Hell, Jason never even asked about the baby after I told him I was pregnant a month ago!_

“I’ll just put ‘em down for you,” he offered and did not wait for her to respond.

Kane invited himself in, making it past Isabel while she was still stunned, just incredulous because of his audacity. He slipped his sneakers off and walked into the living room where Isabella was still standing. He smiled at her and greeted her in quite the cheerful manner, to which she arched an eyebrow. It was a rare day indeed when a genuine, bright smile was thrown her way.

“I just realized I never introduced myself to you properly,” Kane said to Isabella. “I’m Kane Go. Can I just call you ‘mom’?” he requested, smiling all the way through. 

“You do and I’ll have no problem burying you alive in the cemetery down the street,” Isabella answered in a smooth tone, folding her arms across her chest. “What’s that you have there, Mister Kane?” she asked, being formal in a sarcastic manner.

“Diapers for our baby!” He grinned enthusiastically.

Isabella blinked, taken aback by the response and his eagerness. She turned her attention to her daughter, who was still by the door and frowning quite deeply. Kane looked over at Isabel, too, and did not seem affected by her expression or the fact that he could practically feel her sour mood from where he was.

“Where can I put these?” Kane asked curiously while looking around. He was not sure where the appropriate place was to drop diapers.

“Kane, sit down,” Isabel ordered. 

 _She almost sounds upset_ , Kane noted. He was about to say something, but the look in Isabel’s emerald eyes told him just to park his ass. His butt quickly found the sofa while Isabel stormed over to him. She sat down next to him and looked him square in the eyes for a moment, searching for something from what he could tell.

Isabel decided that she wanted to see how serious Kane was. Maybe he was just playing around right now with the “our” baby and diapers and stuff like that. She did not want to have to deal with him, serious or not, if he was going to act so strange. 

“Kane, I don’t think I’m going to have this baby,” she informed him in a business-like voice.

The young man’s olive-toned face scrunched up. “What do you mean?” he asked, sounding as perplexed as he looked.

“I think I’m going to have an abortion,” she said, forcing the words out of her mouth. She was not trying to toy with his emotions. She was seriously considering the idea now, even though she wanted so badly to have the baby. She was thinking about it because of the problem with Jason and Kane _. I don’t have a father for this baby and I don’t have anything steady or stable in my life right now … beyond my mother and sister, who Ican’t ask to raise a child for me_. _I never thought life would or could suck this fucking much_.

Kane’s expression pretty much fell through the floor to the center of the Earth before shifting into an odd sort of desperate fury. “You can’t do that, Bella!” he insisted with a growl.

Isabel was taken back by his passion in his words and was stunned silent momentarily. But, suddenly a familiar fire ignited in her eyes. “Who the hell do you fucking think you are to tell me what the hell to do? I can do whatever the fuck I want. I’m the one carrying the baby,” she reminded him in an arrogant tone.

Kane was set to argue, but he stopped and dropped his head in defeat. “You’re right, Bella. It’s your choice.”

The auburn-haired young man’s heart clenched tightly in his chest, feeling like barbed wire was being wrapped around his most precious organ. _No baby, no family, no nothing_ , his mind pointed out. _No, I can’t give that up, not now. I can’t give up on her, on_ us.

Isabel’s heart actually dropped to her knees when she saw Kane’s dejected expression. She put a hand to her chest, trying to will the feeling away. She glanced over, noting that her mother was still standing right there. She forced down the pain in her heart and turned her attention back to Kane. 

“It is my choice,” she affirmed his statement.

“It is your choice … but, do you think that maybe you could just have the baby? If you don’t want the baby, I’ll take him and you don’t have to worry about the kid,” he said in a strong tone, shocking Isabel for the second time in less than ten seconds.

“You’ll take the kid?” she asked in a skeptical voice, her eyebrows shooting up to make her expression match her tone.

“I will!” he promised in a rock solid tone, puffing out his chest somewhat. He put his head up and looked her dead in the face. His eyes showed no sign of lying or even hesitating. He did not believe in hesitation.

“Kane, the baby might not even be yours,” she reminded him. “What if I have the baby and she isn’t yours?”

Kane sighed and rubbed his forehead momentarily. She made a point. If she had the baby and it turned out not to be his, then she would be stuck with a baby that she did not seem to want. He did not have a right to do that to her.

“I’ll take him no matter what,” he stated. His voice did not waver and the look in his eyes remained the same determined expression.

“Kane, you don’t know what you’re saying,” she argued, looking a bit concerned for him more than anything else. _Why does he want the baby so badly_ , she wondered. _What does he care?_ He could have ran off by now with nothing to worry about, yet he was there trying to take the baby from her. His reaction was the total opposite of Jason, who had all but insisted that she get an abortion when she told him about the baby. _What the hell do I do with this little idiot?_

He held his head high. “I do. If you don’t want him and he’s not mine and the other guy doesn’t want him, I’ll still take the baby.”

“What the hell are you even going to do with a baby?”

Kane smiled. “Teach him to raise Cain, of course,” he remarked.

Isabel laughed a bit. She reached over and rubbed the top of Kane’s head, forgetting that her mother was watching the whole thing. He smiled a bit, looking shy; he was not offended by her petting him like he had been the first time that she did it. She was not doing it in an uppity manner like before, but in a sort of loving one. Isabel found herself thinking the strangest thought; _he’s so damned adorable!_

“It was just a thought, Kane. You don’t have to think that extreme right now,” she said to him a low tone, as if she was trying to comfort him. She seemed to be looking to ease away his agitation, which was not something she typically did with people. Usually, she would leave a person to feel bothered and let the person work through it on his own.

“Well, in case things do get that extreme, I’m here. I know you might think I’m just a nutty, goofball, but I’m here for you, Bella. I mean, whether this kid is mine or not, I’m here for you and I’m here for the baby. I don’t know what’s going on with your boyfriend, but if you feel like you’re in this alone, you’re not. I’m here,” he promised in a gentle tone. He decided not to say any more; the way things were going, he was liable to start babbling soon enough. He could not believe how emotional she could make him get, getting him to make such odd speeches, even put him in danger of ranting. _Such power my goddess has_ , he thought.

“Thank you,” Isabel muttered from the bottom of her heart. She did not know it, but she needed those words. She felt lighter physically and emotionally. 

“No problem! So, what other stuff should I go out and buy?” Kane asked curiously, grin back in place. He was trying to get things back to normal now.

“Are you serious?” she countered with a raise eyebrow.

“Very much so. You can give me a list,” he proposed. 

“Well, you’ll have to wait. You’re not the only one that wants to buy stuff for this baby,” she pointed out. Her sister had been going on shopping sprees for the child ever since she found out about the baby. Her mother had even been buying a few things.

Kane shrugged. “I can see your point. Well, is there anything I can get for you?” 

Isabel decided to send Kane out for lunch since he was in such a helpful mood. She smiled a bit as he left. Her mother walked up to her when Kane was out the door and the door was shut.

“You know, I think you like him,” Isabella commented. It was the only way to explain the behavior that she just witnessed in her opinion. 

“I don’t,” Isabel insisted with a frown.

Isabella smiled, a downright wicked expression. She looked like someone that ate babies for a hobby with the look on her face. Isabel actually took a step back; it was a common reaction when her mother smiled.

“I must say, I like him more than Jason,” Isabella admitted. For once, she was not looking to just tease Isabel, which she thoroughly enjoyed all of the time. She was being honest. There was something about Kane that was…almost likeable.

“I could gather that,” the younger woman replied dryly. After all, her mother had not threatened to break his legs if he ever came back in the house; she had promised a much worse fate to Jason should he ever darken her doorstep again.

“He obviously wants the baby and is quite happy to do anything you say. I haven’t seen signs that Jason even thinks about the child. So, with luck, out of our choices, he’s the father,” Isabella stated effortlessly. 

“With luck, out of our choices, this baby was immaculately conceived,” Isabel retorted, rolling her eyes.

Isabella chimed right back in. “I believe one has to be a virgin for that and considering the mess you’re in, I think it’s safe to assume you’re no virgin.”

Isabel rolled her eyes. She hoped that her mother did not have anything else to say. Isabella did seem to consider speaking, but she supposed that Isabel was suffering enough as it was, so she would hold off saying some of the nastier things on her mind. Still she had one last thing to add.

“At least Kane is cute and trying while Jason is just trying,” Isabella stated before walking away. 

“Mommy!” Isabel hollered. She shuddered in disgust; she really needed her mother to stop commenting on the looks of a guy that she slept with. It did not help matters that she had already thought he was adorable. She did not need her mother confirming those thoughts with her own input. She shook those notions away; she had bigger things to worry about. 

-8-8-8-8-

Over the next few weeks, Isabel tried to get in touch with Jason. He was not taking her calls, so she stopped trying after a while. She refused to chase him. She never chased him. He was probably happy about that now.

She recalled over and over how Jason had not been too thrilled back when she told him that she was pregnant. 

_Jason’s mouth hit the floor as he jumped to his feet. “What do you mean you’re pregnant? You can’t be pregnant! We can’t have a kid now! I’m still at school and I want to play football professionally. This would be a PR nightmare for me. A child out of wedlock? How could this even happen? We use protection all the time so this doesn’t happen!” Jason proclaimed as he paced a hole into his thin, dorm room carpet._

_Isabel sat calmly on his bed. “We did have that accident remember?”_

_“Condoms should not just break like that!” he snorted through his nose. “My career could be over because of something like this. This is a scandal, I mean.”_

_“Dearest, you are aware we live in the 20 th century, right?” she inquired with an arched eyebrow, but he ignored her and continued muttering about how having a baby would affect his life._

He worried more about being able to finish school and how having a baby would affect his football career more than anything else. In fact, he ranted about that for almost an hour after she told him the news. So, he probably felt like he was off the hook now, she figured; the thought did cross his mind more often than not. 

She had no desire to speak with Jason if he was going to act like a baby, anyway. If he did not want anything to do with her, then that was his issue. She was not lamenting it, especially since Kane was around.

Kane was more helpful than Isabel ever would have thought. His cheerful attitude was a little annoying and he still said very inappropriate things, especially around her mother. But, he was still … well, the best she would give him was “coming in handy.” She did not want to give him too much credit.

“Hey, Bella, you ready to go?” Kane called, waiting outside, but sticking his head in a window of the house. 

“Kane, stop doing that or I’ll slam your damn head in that thing,” Isabel barked. She did not like the habit he was working himself into with shouting in the house from the window. “You act like you were raised in a fucking cave.”

He put a finger to his chin in mock-thought. “Hmm … that house had a lot of statues for a cave,” he commented in a thoughtful tone with a smile.

Isabel raised her hand like she was going to punch him, but she did not. She opened the door and joined him outside. He grinned at her, pleased to just be standing next to her from what she could tell. He took her by the hand and led her to a car that he rented since he planned to be around town for a while and he had learned that Isabel did not know how to drive.

Kane opened Isabel’s door for her and helped her inside. She did not say anything since it was not the first time that he had done that. She was not even shocked by it anymore. He made sure that she was secure in her seat before closing the door and going to the driver’s side.

“So, how many apartments today?” he asked curiously while starting the car. He had gone for something simple when it came to vehicles, which surprised her. She thought that Kane would be a sports car, two-seater type, but instead he had gone for a small sedan.

“Just five,” she answered with a sweet smile, just to be silly for a moment. She also knew that the number would get a disgruntled reaction from him. 

Kane’s eyes bulged and he gagged a little. _Five?!_ He had been out with her while she was apartment hunting; it was not a fun experience. She had such high standards and was not below getting into heated arguments with whoever was showing them the apartment. He did not have a say in the matter since she had made it clear that she was looking for a place of her own, no one else, except her and the baby. He was just acting as her chauffer to hear her tell things. He supposed that was for the best considering how he might tell things if anyone ever asked.

Kane liked to think that he filled more than the role as her driver. He was also the guy that was “definitely not her boyfriend” whenever a person asked while they were out, which was often; she always beat him to the punch when that question was thrown at them. He was the guy that brought her lunch, making sure that she ate, even when she swore that she was not hungry. He was the one that reminded her that she was eating for two. He was the one that took her for doctor’s appointments.

The auburn-haired male was also the guy that made sure to say something stupid when she seemed like she was getting a bit discouraged for whatever reason. He was the guy that got punched in the face for saying such things, or worse. Yeah, there were worse things that he could do now rather than say something inappropriate. Not that Isabel would ever acknowledge what made most of those “worse things” worse than his improper words.

“Kane, where are your eyes?” Isabel inquired calmly when they were sitting down having lunch at a small café. It was a place that she admittedly enjoyed, even though Kane was the one that found it a couple of weeks ago by chance.

“My eyes … right on you, Bella,” he answered with a huge grin as the objects in question returned to her lovely face.

“Funny, a moment ago they appeared to be glued to some young lady’s ass,” she commented dryly. 

Kane laughed sheepishly. “Why would I look at some girl’s ass when I have such a beautiful, wonderful, delightful—” he did not get a chance to finish. 

Isabel wasted no time in leaning across the table and punching him on the cheek. Kane’s head snapped to the side while Isabel turned her nose up and muttered the word “pig.” He smiled at her as a thought floated through his mind; she was jealous … or so he would like that to be the case. Isabel would deny the charge.

She often got jealous if his eyes wandered or if someone showed an interest in him. Generally, she pretended not to notice if the latter occurred, but she would silently fume for hours when it happened. The former always got him hit. He was starting to figure Isabel out, though. She could not say what she was feeling unless he was bothering her. Everything else had to be read by her body language and actions. He was becoming fluent in “Isabel speak,” but he did not make it a habit of showing what he learned.

“I think you’re getting a bit slower as our baby gets bigger,” Kane quipped while rubbing his cheek. He doubted that it would even leave a bruise. 

“Shut up,” Isabel grumbled while turning her attention to her chicken salad, which she was ready to devour. She then glanced at Kane’s meal, which was a greasy double-cheese burger. “You should eat healthier,” she stated in a mumble.

Kane shrugged. “One day,” he replied as if it was no big deal. 

Isabel only shook her head and then she mentally scolded herself for sounding like she cared about him. She reminded herself that she did not like Kane. He was an annoying little man that could only be stupid. _He is not worth liking_ , she told herself.

-8-8-8-8-

Isabel was lounging on her mother’s sofa. Her feet were killing her. She gathered it had something to do with the bowling ball that she was carrying in her womb. She was convinced that she was having a baby whale from the feel of things. There was just no way that a little baby human could possibly hurt her back and feet so much.

 _Where’s Kane?_ Isabel wondered, close to a whine in her own head. He would rub her feet for her; he was the only person on the planet that would do such a thing. No one else even listened to her complain about her poor, swollen feet. 

There was a knock at the door and a smile actually graced Isabel’s face. Hopefully that was Kane at the door. And then she remembered that Kane did not knock anymore. _So, who’s at the door?_ She supposed that she would have to get off her ass to see since her mother did not believe in answering the door when one of her daughters was home, even if Isabel was seven months pregnant.

“Hold the fuck on!” Isabel hollered in a rage at the person knocking on the door as she slowly rose off of the couch.

Isabel waddled to the door with a frown etched deeply on her face and opened it without bothering to ask who. She was too annoyed to care. When she saw who was standing there, she wished that she had bothered to check.

“Jason,” Isabel said with disdain in her voice.

“Iz,” Jason replied in a neutral tone, even though he was somewhat glaring down at her. 

“What the fuck do you want?” she inquired, still frowning. She had not heard from him in months, so she did not see why he was showing up at her mother’s house at such a time. Especially since her mother could actually be home.

“To talk,” he stated bluntly. 

“So talk,” she said. She was tempted to invite him in. She did not want to be on her feet if he was going to be there long, but him being inside the house was grounds for his death. _Oh, well, that decides things nicely_. “Come on in. I need to sit down,” she told him.

Jason wisely hesitated, but went in the house anyway. Isabel ordered him to leave his shoes at the door while making her way back to the couch. She sighed when she hit the cushions. She was feeling better already and then he sat down next to her. She frowned while moving as far away from him as possible. She also noted that he left his shoes on.

“So talk,” she repeated in the same bland tone.

He took a deep breath. “First off, you have to understand where I’m coming from. I’ve been so thoroughly and extremely pissed off with you. I mean, you betrayed me and you acted like it was nothing. You lied to me about the baby being mine—” 

She cut him off. “I didn’t lie,” she growled. She hated to think about it, but she was almost certain that the baby was his.

“Look, let’s just both admit to being wrong here. I mean, you led me to believe Iwas the only guy for you, only for me to find out that you slept with some random Italian dude, who might actually be the father of the baby. Your behavior hasn’t been stellar at all, so it’s only right that I react somehow.” 

“Jason, is there a point?” she snapped. “I don’t have time for this shit. My feet hurt and my back hurts. If you’re here to just cut into me, then get the fuck out.”

“I know my behavior the past few months hasn’t been the best, ignoring your calls and not seeing you and everything,” he admitted.

“I wouldn’t know how your behavior has been considering the fact that you’ve been nonexistent to me in the past few months,” she remarked. “To be honest, you haven’t really graced my thoughts. I’ve been busy.” She had been trying to find an apartment, getting fatter, and abusing Kane, a fun but surprisingly tiresome pastime. 

He frowned briefly, but shook the expression off. “The point is I’ve had a long time to think about what happened. I’ve also grown to miss you,” he said, waiting for some reaction from her. There was nothing, though. “I mean, I still love you, you know,” he added, figuring that would get a reaction. She typically gushed when he said that he loved her. 

Isabel still did not react to his words. She was surprised by her own complete lack of response. In the past, if Jason said such words to her, she would feel her heart flutter and she would be putty in his hands for at least a few minutes. It was rare for her to hear such words from anybody; well, it used to be rare until a certain pervert showed up in her life. It was also rare for someone to display love toward her as Jason tended to do when he paid attention to her and in the past, that used to touch her. That was what kept her with him, but now, she felt nothing.

She chalked her lack of feeling up to the fact that Jason had left her alone and pregnant for months on end. He did not call to check on her or take her calls. He never made inquiries about the baby or how she was doing. He just fell off the face of the Earth and she moved on. She did not think about what it meant for her to “move on” though.

“You still love me? That doesn’t mean you forgive me. Would you ‘still love’ me even if this baby isn’t yours?” she asked, an eyebrow craned in curiosity. 

Jason was silent for a few long seconds. “We don’t know whose baby it is.”

“The point is would you still love me if the baby isn’t yours?” she inquired, even though she could guess the answer to that one.

Jason searched his mind for an answer that would not get him punched in the face, but did not come up with anything. He was certain that he loved Isabel now, but he was not sure about how he would feel about her having a child that was not his. He would have a consistent reminder of her betrayal of his trust. He was already having trouble thinking about how many men she might have slept with despite their relationship, especially since he knew how her little sister carried on. It was quite possible that her little sister had picked up the habit from her; Isabel was the younger girl’s role model, after all.

“The point is I love you. Everything else will work itself out,” he declared. 

“What the fuck are you even talking about? A baby isn’t going to just ‘work itself out.’ I’m having a baby and I’m going to be with this child until one of us dies, end of story,” she informed him.

“It doesn’t have to be that way, though. We could always figure out what to do later on.”

“You’re wasting my time, Jason,” she pointed out with a tense frown. “You don’t speak to me for almost five months and then you show up here without even having the proper speech worked out? You think an ‘I love you’ fixes everything? Not to mention you think the baby will just ‘work itself out.’ What the hell do you think, after the baby’s born, she’ll just go off, get a job, and have a studio apartment somewhere and you’ll never had to think about her again? You don’t love me, Jason. You only thought you did,” she stated. The unspoken words there were that she did not love Jason either. She only thought she did. 

“I do love you! But then you had to go and try to ruin us! I mean, God, how many guys have you slept with? How many guys are there that could possibly be this kid’s dad! You’re just trying to make a fool out of me! You’re the one that betrayed me! You don’t have any right to make light of my emotions and question me when you can’t keep your damn legs closed! You can’t keep trying to make a fool out of me!” Jason roared, climbing to his feet to literally look down on her. He had kept that pinned up from the last time they spoke.

“Why should I try when you do such a splendid job of it on your own?” she countered calmly. 

“You act so high and mighty, but you’re the one that’s in the wrong here,” he stated firmly while continuing to glare down at her. “You’re calling my feeling into question when you’re the one that cheated! You’re the one that’s a damn whore!” 

Isabel frowned and her fist clenched shut of its own accord. She wanted to spring up and deck him in the mouth like she did before, but that was many pounds and comfortable feet ago. Right now, it was a struggle for her to get off of the sofa and she was sure that he would see the hit coming. She chanced it anyway, thinking that she might be able to put some knuckles on his cheek.

As suspected, Jason saw the hit coming. He frowned as she tried to launch herself at him. He sidestepped her while she sucked her teeth and fell back to the couch. 

“You’re a violent one, too. I don’t go around hitting you, so you should have the decency—” Jason started to scold her, which was something that he did quite often, but she cut in.

“What the fuck do you know about decency?! You’re always getting into fucking arguments with me over bullshit! You come to my mother’s house to fucking reprimand me like I’m a fucking child! You’re not being an adult about this in any way!” Isabel hollered from her space on the sofa. Her pale skin was starting to turn a bright scarlet already from raising her voice.

“I’m not being an adult? How the hell do you want me to react anyway? You tell me you’re pregnant one minute and then the next you’re telling me it might not even be my baby! You’re trying to take advantage of me. You’re trying to get me to take care of a kid that’s not even mine! I mean, I know I’d be a good dad and all, but you’re just being plain dishonest! What, this is like my parents always said? You’re just with me for the money?” he inquired with a frown.

To him, he could understand why she would lie to him about the baby being his. He was certain that he would be a good father and he figured that she knew that. He would also eventually be able to take care of a baby since he figured that he was either going to be a professional football player or a successful businessman. He doubted that any other guy that Isabel ever touched would be as high-powered as he believed himself to be.

“Fuck your money! I don’t need shit from you!” Isabel informed him with venom in her voice. She had to take a deep breath after that. She was getting a bit winded and dizzy from the screaming; she was not accustomed to having yelling contests with people.

“Well, you’re obviously not with me because you love me,” he said in a heated tone with a serious and deep frown cutting his face.

“What the fuck is there to love about a prick like you!” she yelled at the top of her lungs. “All you fucking do is try to lord over me! You get a great deal of joy in acting high and mighty toward me, reprimanding me like I’m your fucking kid or your goddamn slave, and you always act like you’re better than I am just because you’re in college. I can only wondernow what the fuck I ever saw in you. What the fuck made me so deluded that I thought I could love you? I’m obviously some kind of idiot to even entertain that thought!”

He flinched and then clinched his jaw. “So, you don’t love me? Good to know. I’ve had better women than you lined up for miles and I’m glad I’ll be able to date them now. They’re good, intelligent women, who do have a college education and dreams of a future that doesn’t involve fighting in some filthy gutter! They’re not argumentative bitches and they know they’re lucky to have me!”

“Then get the fuck out and go to them!”

“I second that sentiment,” Isabella commented in her usual tone as she came from the back of the house to the entrance of the living room. Her eyes were narrowed onto Jason, who gulped as soon as he noticed her.

“Mommy, I can handle this,” Isabel insisted, eyes stayed glued to Jason. She was glaring chilling, poisonous daggers into his soul that did make him want to tremble. He knew better than to show weakness around the women, though.

“You don’t need to. You don’t need the stress. If Jason were the gentleman he always claimed to be, he’d recognize this. And if Jason were intelligent, he wouldn’t be in my house, yelling at my pregnant daughter,” Isabella said calmly, taking a step toward the young man.

“She invited me in,” Jason argued, motioning toward Isabel. 

“I don’t give a fuck if God himself invited you in. Now, she invited you in and you pay her back by upsetting her, thus bothering my grandchild, too. You seem to be batting 0 for 3 in that case because you’re bugging the shit out of me too,” Isabella informed him, another step toward the football player.

“I’ve got a right to talk to my girl—” he tried to say. 

“Doesn’t sound like she’s your girlfriend anymore and you haven’t been acting like she is anyway. Now, let me show you the door and take into account that this is the last time you’ll see this side of it or I’ll throw you through it,” Isabella said quite seriously.

“I’ve still got—” 

“Does he still have business with you?” Isabella asked her daughter. She did not bother to turn to look at Isabel. They both continued to give Jason glares that probably would have murdered him if it were possible.

“No,” Isabel answered bluntly. 

Isabella did not need to hear more. She wanted Jason out of her house now. She glared at him more intensely and that was enough to get him moving. But, it was not enough to get him to shut his mouth.

“So, this is it? This is how you’re going to leave it?” Jason demanded, speaking to his girlfriend … or was she his former girlfriend?

“This is how you’re leaving it. You’re the one acting like this is the end of the world or that the baby is just going to go away. You left it like this,” Isabel replied.

“You slept with another guy! How do you expect me to react!” he inquired with an incredulous expression on his face. “How else am I supposed to react when finding out that I’m dating a wanton slut that slept with strange men in other countries?!” 

Isabel only shook her head. He was acting the way that she expected. She was not sure how she wanted him to react, though, considering the fact that expecting and wanting were two different things. In the beginning, she would have sworn that she wanted him to take it well and they would be able to stay in their strange, but cozy relationship. But now, there was nothing there that she wanted to hold onto with Jason. She chalked it up to the argument that they were engaged in, but something deep inside of her knew that was not the case. _There’s something so much more that freed_ _you from him,_ her mind whispered to her.

“I hope you’re proud of the whores you raised,” Jason boldly sneered at Isabella.

Isabel would have winced for Jason if she were not so pissed at him. So, instead, she watched with devilish glee as her mother showed Jason out…through the door … without opening it. She had to lean forward for a better look of Jason lying on his face, on a huge bit of the door, on the front porch. 

“You call my daughters anything, and I mean _anything_ , that’s not the names on their birth certificates and I swear to you that your fucking mother will weep long and hard when she sees your goddamn body,” Isabella promised Jason in an uncaring tone.

“Your whole family is crazy,” Jason muttered with a groan.

“Yeah, we’re crazy; very, very crazy. So, do us all a fucking favor and stay away from my family. Talk to Izzie when you’ve gotten your act together and she wants to actually hear from you and not a moment before. Just to let you know, we do pray you’re not the baby’s father,” Isabella stated in a cold tone before turning to go back into the house, never mind the fact that most of the front door was on the porch outside.

Isabel sat back on the sofa. Her mother did not look at her while she passed by and Isabel did not look at her mother either. There was no need for that. Everything that needed to be done was done.

-8-8-8-8-

Kane was humming some new song that he did not even know the words to as he came up the walkway of Isabella’s house. He craned an eyebrow when he saw a body lying on the front porch, on a door if he was not mistaken. He rushed to the fallen fellow. 

“You okay?” Kane asked while helping Jason up with no problem despite the fact that Jason was much taller than he was.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Jason grumbled as he pulled away from the auburn-haired teenager. 

“You must’ve pissed off the head of the house,” Kane remarked with a laugh. He knew that Isabel could not muster the power to knock someone through a door and he was also aware that Isabel’s little sister was not home; she was rarely home if the sun was up.

“Miscreants. Every woman in that house is a harpy,” Jason stated with venom. 

“I wouldn’t say that. I find them to be quite the pleasant band of ladies,” Kane replied with a smile. Sure, they all seemed to delight in trying to put knots on his head, but they had not proven to be as bad as Jason’s tone and expression implied.

“You’re probably just as crazy as they are then,” Jason accused with a curl of his upper lip.

Kane smiled. “I don’t think it’s a bad thing to be as crazy as them. They take care of each other in that house and I can’t have you saying bad things about them. If you keep this up, I can’t promise to stay polite,” he quipped, still smiling. There was a bizarre glint in his purple eyes, though. Something dangerous was just underneath the cheery surface. 

Jason scoffed. “Who do you think you are?” he asked with a growl. He was not about to be threatened by some midget after being embarrassed by the mother and daughter team inside.

“I’m just a guy trying to help you out,” Kane answered with a shrug.

“And who are you going to see?” the larger male demanded. _Is this tiny manthe bastard that touched_ my _Isabel? The bastard that impregnated her with another bastard? No, why would she be with such a small, obviously poor boy when she had me?_ It did not make sense. He assumed Kane was poor because the teen was dressed in a simply long, plain white t-shirt and baggy jeans with large holes in them. They were comfortable pants, Kane would argue if anyone asked about the holes.

Kane craned an eyebrow. “I don’t see how who I’m here to see is any of your damn business.”

Jason frowned. _Is it possible that I’m looking at my rival?_ He scoffed because he could not believe it. Isabel had taste, had some level of sophistication, despite her crass language, lack of education, and violence. She could not possibly be with a guy that did not even know how to do his hair, Jason thought; Kane’s hair was supposed to be brushed in a ponytail, but a lot of the hair had escaped and he just let it fall however it wanted to. 

Jason looked over to the street, checking to see if Kane was driving a car. He saw a plain, little black sedan. He would probably describe it as a “girl’s car” because of its size. It was parked right behind his own car, an expensive dark blue sports car. The car only further led him to think that it was impossible that Kane would be there for Isabel. Kane just did not seem right for Isabel in Jason’s opinion.

“It doesn’t matter,” Jason said as he started toward his car with a word of thanks toward Kane for helping him up.

“Wow, what a prick,” Kane muttered as he turned his attention to inside the house and stepped inside. “Hello, hello!” he called as he slipped off his shoes to walk further into the house.

“Kane!” Isabel said with much more delight than she had meant. But, Kane offered her three things that she greatly desired at the moment. The first thing being a foot rub, the second being an escape from the house as she had been inside all day, and the last was lunch. 

“Oh, you know I love it when you scream my name,” Kane remarked with a cheeky grin.

“Idiot,” Isabel grumbled, a slight frown in place now. She turned her head up as if she were offended by his very existence.

Kane chuckled. “So, what happened to the door?” he asked curiously, pointing to what now amounted to a hole in the wall.

“My mother had to put out some unwanted rubbish,” she answered. 

“I can fix that if you want,” he offered.

“Stop trying to get on my good side. I don’t give a damn if you fix my mother’s door or not,” she informed him coldly. 

Kane only smiled a bit, used to Isabel’s fast changing moods, especially in regards to him. He walked by her, just looking to let Isabella know that he was in her house. He found out early on that entering her home and not acknowledging her meant a lot of pain. Now, he knew that the family swore to the high heavens he was a plain and simple masochist, but he would rather not get hit if he could avoid it.

“Hey, senior Bella,” Kane greeted Isabella with his usual grin as he poked his head in the kitchen, which seemed to be Isabella favorite place in the house. 

Isabella shooed Kane away without saying anything in return. She waved him off and he left, still smiling. He returned to his “favorite Bella” and sat down next to her. She wordless put her feet in his lap and wiggled her toes, silent orders that he needed to massage her feet. He quickly complied.

“Kane, I’m hungry,” she informed him. 

“Me too. Can I have one—” he tried to get in a joke, but she interjected before he could finish.

“I can kick you in the mouth, you know,” she pointed out. Her feet were in his lap, after all.

Kane flashed her smile. He decided to leave her alone and just massage her feet. She closed her eyes and a content smile spread across her face without her permission. He smiled to himself while watching her. As a reward for his effort, when he reached up to rub her belly, she did not yell at him.

“Let’s get some food for you and your mom, little guy,” Kane commented in a low voice.

Isabel smiled wider at that statement. She wanted to say that the smile was brought on by the promise of food, not the fact that Kane addressed the baby as if it was his own without knowing if he was indeed the father. He never seemed to consider that the child might not be his, she noted.

Isabel tried not to let her mind go to where it wanted to go while thinking of Kane and how he might not be the father, but her mind went there. He probably was not the father. And she doubted that someone as immature as Kane would stick around when the baby was born and he found out that he was not the father. She was not sure what was going to happen with Jason either, but she refused to let him invade her thoughts.

-8-8-8-8- 

Isabel gave birth to a healthy baby boy. She could look at the boy and already knew who his father was. She was surprised to find that her heart dropped because of that. She told herself that she should be happy just to have her baby, which she was. She was so glad that she had not had that abortion months ago in her moment of insanity, as she had come to think of it.

“Mommy’s happy that she had you,” Isabel cooed to the baby, who was sleeping in her arms. She leaned down and kissed him on the forehead. 

The baby had been up not too long ago when his grandmother and aunt were fussing over him and awed by him. The ladies noted that the baby seemed to like the attention. The visitors also noticed something else about the tiny boy, but they did not say anything. They did not even want to put their thoughts in the air; maybe it was not be true. Or so was the hope that they left with.

“Hey, Bella,” Kane said with a smile as he poked his head into the hospital room.

“Who invited you?” Isabel inquired, sounding bitterer than she meant to. She did not want to see his smiling face because she would start to think about how it would be gone soon. He would never smile at her again. 

“The senior Bella, believe it or not,” he answered truthfully as he stepped into the room. He had a bag in hand, which he held up. “I come bearing gifts,” he added.

“So?” she huffed.

Kane continued to smile and she shifted from her space in the bed. _Why does he smile so much at me_ , she wondered. _Why is his smile so bright? Why did he actually stay by my side ever since he found out that I was pregnant, especially considering the way that I treat him? What the hell was wrong with him?!_  

“Here, you take this and let me hold him,” Kane requested, exchanging the bag for the baby.

“Wait,” Isabel tried to protest, but the baby was already in his hands. 

“What? I kinda know how to hold a baby,” he remarked, thinking that she was afraid for the child.

Isabel was kind of thrown off by that response. “Make sure you support his head,” she found herself saying.

“Gotcha,” he replied with a smile and moved his arm to make sure that the baby’s head was resting on his arm.

Isabel sighed and turned her attention to see what Kane brought her. She opened the bag to see a Styrofoam container, letting her know that he came with lunch for her; it was the afternoon. Her stomach growled as the smell of the food hit her nose and she licked her lips. She wasted no time in digging in while noting that Kane was very preoccupied with cooing at the baby.

-8-8-8-8-

Jason sighed as he pulled his car into the parking lot. He could not believe he actually got a phone call about Isabel having the baby. Maybe it was his baby and if that was the case, he would have to try to mend things with Isabel. He was still upset with her, though. He doubted that he would ever forgive her for her many transgressions.

“She tried to ruin my goddamn life after cheating on me. Tried to get me to raise some other guy’s little bastard. But, if that’s my kid, we have to come to some kind of decision. I could probably finish school and Iwon’t let them mess up my chances for football. She decided to have the kid, after all. She can look after it while I finish everything and then I can take care of them. Seems fair enough after she betrayed and lied to me,” he said to the air.

Sighing, he shook his head. He still had trouble wrapping his mind around the idea that Isabel cheated on him. He thought that despite her argumentative nature that she swore she did not have, she loved him underneath it all and was more than aware of just how fortunate she was to have him. But, obviously that was not the case considering what she had done, what she had probably done numerous times. He based his thoughts on how her younger sister behaved and figured it was probably the norm for their household.

Isabel’s little sister was, well to be blunt about as he typically was, a whore. She tended to have at least three boyfriends at all times with each boyfriend thinking that he was the only one for her. Jason now believed that she learned that behavior from Isabel; after all, she learned a bunch of other bad habits from Isabel, like swearing and being violent. 

He glanced around the parking lot and his blue eyes happened to fall upon a familiar car. He arched an eyebrow and went over to the small black automobile. He frowned as he realized where he had seen that car before. He rushed inside the hospital after that and found out what room Isabel was in.

Jason quickly made his way to the room, finding the door wide open. He did not walk in, but peered in. Isabel was on her bed, eating food that obviously was too good to be from the hospital. And then there was that disheveled young man from a couple of months ago and he appeared to be holding the baby.

Jason frowned as he took in the sight of Kane holding the baby. Kane looked peaceful and proud, smiling down at the little bundle in his arms. Jason turned to leave. 

“I guess it was his baby. Why the hell would they call me up here then? Just to rub it in? to play me even more? Fine, whatever, I don’t need this drama. He can have her and their little bastard,” Jason decided as he returned to his car. He stopped outside by a payphone and leaned against it before taking the phone off of the hook.

-8-8-8-8-

Isabel growled in anger as she was taken away from her heavenly sandwich and soda by the ringing of the phone in her room. She suspected that one of her family members was calling to congratulate her, as that has been happening all day. She had been able to count on her mother or sister to answer it, but those two had gone to get their own lunch.

 “Hello,” she said in the most neutral tone that she had ever used on Jason over the phone. 

“Hey, it’s me,” Jason said, forcing out a laugh that sounded almost like a sob.

She blinked in surprise and then glanced over at Kane, who was still busy with the baby. “Oh, yes. Hello,” she muttered in a disinterested tone.

Jason actually waited a few seconds before speaking because he did not think that would be the end of the greeting. Usually the greeting was “hello, dear” or “hello, dearest” with some kind of warmth in her voice, even if they had been fighting. Now, there was nothing. She might as well have been speaking to a stranger, he noted. That drove his next blunt statement. 

“It’s over,” he informed her gruffly.

“What’s over?” she asked him curiously. 

He snorted angrily. “Us. We’re done. I don’t need to deal with this.”

“And the baby?” she inquired, making sure to keep her businesslike tone. 

“What about the baby? Don’t you already have a father for him?” he replied bitterly.

She frowned; his attitude influenced her next words. “Fine, then. I wish you the best in life.” She then hung up on him. He did not bother to call back.

Isabel was surprised once again to find that she felt nothing over Jason ending them. She swore that she loved him not too long ago, but she felt nothing over losing him. The only man on her mind was the boy before her and she did not mean her son.

Isabel’s mind and heart were focused only on Kane. She was about to lose him and that troubled her, but she hated to admit that to herself. After all, she did not like Kane. He was just some wild, insane man that she had a fun night with. _So, why do I feel like my insides might fall out when he inevitably walks out of that door and out of my life?I feel like I would be so much poorer without him._

“Kane …” Isabel said in a low, nearly hesitant voice. 

“Hmm?” he asked while turning to her. His eyes stayed focused on the baby, though. He could hardly believe the tiny life that he held in his arms.

“Don’t you have to go home sometime soon?” she inquired, having to swallow to keep her voice from cracking. 

“Um … no,” he answered in a confused tone. “I mean, it’s not like they close the hotel doors at a certain hour and even if they did, I doubt it would be this early.”

A small smile worked its way on her face. “Idiot. I mean, don’t you have to go home, back to Italy?”

“Oh.” He chuckled lightly because of his misunderstanding of the question. “No. Why would I have to? Nobody’s home and nobody in my family called to say the place burned down or nothing, so I’m guessing everything’s fine. So, I’m here for as long as you need me,” he assured her.

“Idiot,” she stated much harsher than she meant to, than she ever had. “You do know that’s not your baby, right?” she pointed out without any tact. It was almost like she did not care anything about his feelings. 

Kane looked down at the baby. His eyes were blue, like a middle of the ocean. His hair was pitch black. He had thin lips and the makings of a square chin. Kane laughed a bit; a hallow sound. There did not appear to be a drop of him in the child that he held.

“Let’s wait for the blood test to tell us that,” he replied, a half smile tugging at his lips.

“Don’t be an idiot. The baby’s not yours. So, why don’t you just get lost?” she huffed while her mind demanded to know why she was speaking like that. _You’re going to send him away if you keep acting like fucking bitch_ , her mind pointed out. Her pride, ego, and sensibility assured her that she wanted to send him away.

“If you want me gone, Bella, I’ll do that. I wouldn’t want to trouble things between you and his father,” he told her in a low voice. He sounded as sorrowful as he felt. It was like his heart cracked down the center and was now crumbling, falling bit by bit into his stomach and being dissolved by the acids there. 

“You wouldn’t be troubling things,” she accidentally confessed. It seemed that her mind kicked in and took control of her mouth again. How long that would happen remained to be seen. 

“No?” Kane asked with a shocked tone. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“His father left me.” She looked down at her lap where her unfinished lunch sat patiently, waiting for her to return. 

“He left you? With the baby?” Kane asked in disbelief. _How could anybody do something like that_ , he wondered. He did not understand it and he was actually happy that he could not understand it.

“Yes …” 

Kane was over to Isabel in a flash. She did not even see him move, which was strange considering he usually moved slower than a slug. She was wondered how he covered the distance of her room without making a sound as he did. He was staring intently down at her; royal-colored eyes on emerald ones, letting her know that he was totally serious about the next words that left his mouth.

“I’ll stay if you want me to. I’ll help if you want me to. I’ll be there for you and the baby if you want me to,” Kane promised.

Isabel was silenced by his words. She looked away from him, not wanting him to see how touched she was. In her head, she was actually cursing him out for making her feel the way that she suddenly was. Her heart was fluttering and her head was swimming; she felt confused and delighted at the same time. She had never felt like he made her feel, even when she thought that she was in love and Jason was lavishing attention on her. There was something so different between him and Jason that she could not even begin to figure it out; she did not even want to try. 

Kane seemed to sense her distress. “I’ll fuck you crazy right now, too, if you want me to,” he added with a lecherous grin.

Isabel’s eyebrow twitched, her mind remembering how to work now. “Perverted idiot,” she huffed, turning back to glare angrily at him. “And the only reason I’m not hitting you right now is because you’re holding my son.”

Kane smiled. “What a life saver this kid is. I’m never putting him down now,” he declared.

“You’ll be handing him back as soon as I finish eating,” she informed him.

“We’ll see. So, how about I name him since I’m never letting him go?” he proposed and she shot him a glare that would have stopped a lesser man’s heart instantly.

“Like hell I’ll ever let you name him or any other kid I have.”

“Oh, so you plan on others? Can I help in that?” he asked with a hopeful smile.

A vein bulged from her forehead because of her anger with him. She wanted to holler at him for being a lecher and an idiot, but they were in a hospital. Like hell she would ever have kids with him! _I don’t even like him_ , she promised herself for perhaps the millionth time since she met him.

Kane smiled at her and then turned his attention back to the baby. _Maybe it’s too much to hope for kids of my own_ , he thought. _But, I have this one for now and he is a prince_. At least he could pretend to have a family for a little while … until Isabel had her fill of him anyway. He wondered how much time he had left before she was sick of him. He hoped that he would at least be able to get to know the baby a little, experience something that he was sure he would never have, at least not with the beautiful creature in the bed. He could pretend now and dream from the memories later.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: back to our regularly scheduled story and the consequences of Kim hitting Connie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to touch on Kane and Isabel’s relationship a bit more. I hope you guys don't mind. If you liked what you saw, read the continuation of this chapter in the story: [Something’s Gotta Give](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2470142). It’s the prequel to this story.
> 
> If you want to know more about Jason, you can read my Walking the Line series. He first appears in the second story [On a Short Leash](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1888449). Or you can go to my account at fictionpress and read [Against the World](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2416979). He also appears in [Something’s Gotta Give](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2470142).
> 
> If you want to know more about Isabella, you can read [Against the World](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2416979). She also appears in [Something’s Gotta Give](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2470142).


	16. Space and Opportunity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters.
> 
> A special thanks goes out to King in Yellow for helping me with the bit of legal work that appears in this chapter. He rocks! I recommend you reading his stories if you haven’t. 
> 
> Warning: there’s some sexual activity toward the end of the chapter.

16: Space and Opportunity

They all knew it was coming. It was only a matter of time. At least the police had been smart about it when it all got started. Kim got arrested. The charge was aggravated assault, against Bonnie’s sister of course. The claim of aggravated assault stemmed from the fact that Kim knew so many forms of martial arts. She and her lovers thought the charge was just ridiculous. Okay, so she knew a bunch of forms of martial arts and her whole body was pretty much a weapon, but there was not much in her assault that was aggravated, aside from her mood anyway. 

The police were polite enough about things, showing up at the school when the students were gone and taking the time and care to explain their position. Kim did not put up a fight and Shego did not make a noise because of how everything was going. She just made it a point to go get Kim out jail as soon as possible.

Kim quietly went with the officers, who did not handcuff her and drove an unmarked car instead of a patrol car. They even apologized to her on the way. Kim could not help thinking she needed to stop getting arrested.

And now they were all preparing to go to court. Well, more like Bonnie was preparing to go to court while begging her lovers not to hit anyone else. She also made an awful joke about Kim being arrested so many times after Shego came into the picture. It did not get many laughs.

“You know, I wouldn’t say it if you two didn’t keep getting arrested,” Bonnie commented from her spot on the bed. She was behind Shego and braiding her raven hair while Shego was braiding Kim’s hair. They were all in pajamas and getting ready for bed.

“What do you mean ‘keep’? Those things with GJ weren’t my fault. They’re just idiots,” Shego argued with a snort. Kim decided to be polite in her own right and not point out that the one time she had been arrested, Bonnie was not far behind her in the same predicament.

“If you led a better life, we wouldn’t be having this problem,” Bonnie countered, pretending to have an attitude. She yanked slightly on the former thief’s hair, which seemed to wake up Shego’s inner demon. 

“What, the problem of all three of us being together? Because you know, if I wasn’t a bad girl, I never would’ve met Kimmie and—” Shego did not get a chance to finish that one as the attorney chimed in.

“I’d have her all to myself!” Bonnie’s tone was outrageously bright and she let loose an exaggerated grin. It would seem Shego’s inner demon was not the only one that was awake now.

“Like hell I’d ever let you have Kimmie at all, let alone all to yourself!” Shego then wrapped her arms around the petite hero and pressed their bodies closely together.

Kim made surprised noise, not expecting the tight embrace. She was not about to complain about the hug though, as she thoroughly enjoyed having Shego’s ample bosom pressed against her back. The redhead even leaned back a bit, pushing herself into the older woman’s breasts.

“Hey, you let my baby go!” Bonnie ordered with a frown, tugging on Shego’s braid again, much harder than before. She pulled with enough power to where it would hurt, but not enough to where it could be categorized as anything more than “playful.”

“My princess!” Shego declared with an evil grin and she hopped up off the bed, making sure to keep a grip on the hero. Kim yelped as Shego then ran around the room, holding her like she was some sort of package.

“Hey!” Bonnie barked. “Come back here with my baby!” She wasted no time shooting off of the bed as if her ass was on fire, chasing after Shego. She grabbed for Kim, but Shego moved too fast for her.

A game quickly started with Kim apparently the game piece and prize, which she expected. It was not the first time that they did something like this, but it was usually Kim and Shego running around trying to take Bonnie from each other. It was silly, they knew, but it was fun. Like hell they would stop something fun when they were safe in the privacy of their own home, without any nosy cameras or gossipy neighbors or prying reports to worry about.

“Careful with me!” Kim complained as Shego dodged Bonnie’s attempts to yank the redhead from her. The ex-villainess yanked Kim strongly to keep her away from Bonnie, pressing against Kim’s ribs each time she did so.

“Quiet you, before I really get rough,” Shego warned her olive-eyed girlfriend, still smiling like the demon she wanted the world to believe she was. She kept a firm grip because she did not want any accidents. It would be just their luck where Kim, who could fight people trying to take over the world without getting as much as scratched, would get injured over something this silly.

“Give her back to me!” Bonnie commanded, trying to jump at Shego, only to miss both women.

Shego cackled. “She was mine first, so I can’t give her back since she was never yours to begin with,” she teased, having the nerve to stick her tongue out at Bonnie.

They played around for just a few minutes before Shego tossed Kim onto the bed while Bonnie came at her. The eldest then grabbed Bonnie and used the lawyer’s momentum to throw her on the bed. Shego did not hesitate to join them. 

“Banzai!” Shego joked as she landed in between her lovers. They all smiled at each other and sat there quietly for a few moments before they could not help touching each other. Heated kisses were exchanged for a few minutes, but nothing more happened.

They then worked their way under covers in their usual spots. They had to move around a bit, but that did not last long. Kim rested her head against Shego’s shoulder while Shego buried her head in Kim’s fiery mane. Bonnie threw an arm and leg across Kim’s body and ended up touching Shego and buried her face in Kim’s neck. They were not about to fall asleep, even though they were set up for it now.

“Bonnie, are you sure you don’t mind taking this case?” Kim asked for the ninety-third to be sure. Well, it was more a rough estimate by the attorney since by Shego’s count it was actually an even hundred now.

“Don’t worry so much, Possible. I’m a lawyer. Let me do my thing. After all, I am a damn good one,” Bonnie answered with confidence.

“The legal rottweiler,” Kim stated with a fond smile.

“Damn right. So, I’ll take care of it. Just don’t punch any more of my siblings, okay?” Bonnie requested as a joke. She playfully slapped Kim on the butt, earning a yelp from the hero. Bonnie laughed.

“What are you two doing there?” Shego asked.

“Nothing, nothing,” Bonnie insisted as Kim settled once again.

“I’m sorry about that, loves. I mean, I just couldn’t take it anymore after listening to that garbage for so long,” Kim explained, sounding slightly upset. Just think about the things Bonnie’s brothers and sisters said to her pissed Kim off all over again. But, she reminded herself that everything was fine and they were not around, which calmed her down.

“Hey, pumpkin, you don’t need to apologize to me, unless it’s for getting to her before I could,” Shego pointed out quite seriously. She still was a bit miffed that Kim had beaten her to the violence, especially when it was very much called for, in their opinions anyway.

“It’s okay, baby. I mean, I know you did it for me…” Bonnie cooed as she snuggled closer to Kim.

Bonnie did not like remembering that night and the things that her sister said to her. It had confirmed something that she knew for a long time, but could not accept: her family hated her. She did not know why and no matter how long she thought on it, she never could come up with an answer. Her face scrunched up a bit as she started to remember what happened.

“Hey, don’t think about it!” Kim pled as she noticed Bonnie’s expression and she wrapped her arms around Bonnie. She pulled Bonnie closer to her, having to turn a bit. She made sure to set herself up against Shego again once Bonnie was as close to her as she could without merging with Kim.

“Yeah, you don’t have to think about it, Duchess. They don’t know what they’re missing out on,” Shego said while throwing her arms around Bonnie too.

Bonnie audibly sighed as her lovers embraced her. “Baby, you don’t think about it either.” 

Kim’s face scrunched up. “What do you mean?”

“My family doesn’t represent all of humanity. They’re not the rule. They’re the exception. People are generally good,” Bonnie insisted. She _needed_ Kim to continue to believe that because that partially made Kim Kim.

“Yeah, most people are good,” Shego chimed in.

Smiling, Kim turned to kiss Shego. After that, Kim leaned over and kissed Bonnie’s forehead. Bonnie smiled, confident Kim would not let this get her down. So, she would do her best to make sure this all went away, so Kim could move on.

Bonnie fell asleep easily, smiling as she did so. Sure, Kim and Shego could not replace the family she lost, or never had, but they were not there for that. They were her _new_ family. They were the people Kim wanted for her.

Kim and Shego were there to love her and they did that better than anyone ever did. They showered her with warm, tender, thoughtful affection. They gave her all of the attention she needed and wanted. They made her feel in ways no one else ever had and she hoped she never lost that. They had no plans to leave her.

-*-(New day)-*-

Bonnie picked up her phone as she went through files at her desk in her tiny, light grey office. The desk was covered with a few loose papers. She glanced at the caller ID before greeting the caller. She saw it was Heather, which caused her to sigh and she shoulders slumped. 

“Bonnie Rockwaller,” Bonnie answered her phone.

“Hey, it’s me,” Heather said in a very familiar manner. Obviously, she thought she was so close to Bonnie now that she did not even need to identify herself. Funny thing was that she was right, although not in the way she probably thought she was. “Let’s meet up for brunch today,” she proposed in a happy tone, reflecting her mood since she thought she would be having a meal with _her_ lawyer.

“Look, Heather, I don’t really have time to do that today.” _Or any other time_ , Bonnie added in her mind. She needed to focus all of her energy into shredding her family’s case against Kim. She already had a few angles she thought she could work, but she needed to work on all of them to be certain the hero did not end up in prison.

“You don’t have time for me?” Heather sounded quite shocked. There was a bit of anger underlying her voice, too.

“I don’t. I have actual business I need to conduct today,” the brunette replied, snapping a bit. Sometimes, okay much of the time, she just could not control it and she was not in the mood to be nice to someone who was just trying to get into her pants anyway, even if that someone was a client.

“And what are you saying? We don’t talk business?” Heather asked as if she was incredulous.

Bonnie took a deep breath and had to bite her tongue to keep her from saying what was really on her mind. She had to remind herself that she needed Heather. She needed clients. She needed to show she had legal teeth, too, though. So, she did not have time for this.

“I’m saying that I have another important client I need to handle for a while,” Bonnie answered through gritted teeth.

“More important than me?” Heather asked as if such a thing was impossible. Really, she had trouble seeing how anyone short of the President of the United States was more important than she was. Bonnie knew this, too.

“At the moment, yes,” Bonnie answered honestly. Having her first love out walking the streets without interruption was way more important than having Heather as a client could ever be.

Heather was silent for a moment. “How about we get together and have lunch today. We can go over this.”

“What’s to go over? I have another client right now that I need to handle. I’m not saying I’m not going to work with you anymore, but right now, this client is in trouble and I have to handle things,” Bonnie pointed out calmly.

“Well, what if _I_ was in trouble?” the movie star inquired, almost as if she had her lawyer cornered.

“You’re not in trouble,” Bonnie countered in a deadpan tone. She bit back a tired sigh, but she rolled her eyes since Heather could not see that move. She did not want to deal with Heather, not just now, but in general. If she did not need clients, oh, she would have told Heather where to go a long time ago.

“But, if I was?” the starlet pressed.

“But, you’re not. I’m not your lawyer exclusively. I have other clients and they need my attention more than you do today. It’s that simple,” Bonnie said in as gentle tone as she could when speaking through clenched teeth. _I hope this woman doesn’t go out of her way to do something stupid, so I have to pay attention to her_. She would not put it passed Heather at this point.

“Look, let’s just meet up for lunch and talk about this.”

“I have other plans,” Bonnie replied for what felt like the hundredth time already. She had other plans because, like she said, she had other clients. The client she had at the moment was much more important to her than Heather would ever be, but that did not mean she was ready to lose the movie star as a client, which explained why she was still dealing semi-politely with the redhead. She was not sure how much longer that would last, though.

“So, what about me?” There was a clear pout in her tone.

Bonnie frowned and mouthed several curses. She did not enjoy the fact that Heather treated her like a girlfriend and not like a lawyer. Their relationship was strictly business and she was going to have to let the redhead know that. This could not continue. It was exhausting.

“What about you? You don’t _need_ my services right now. I’m not a lunch date. I’m your attorney. You want legal advice, call me. You want lunch, phone a friend,” Bonnie stated with a huff.

Heather was silent for a moment and then Bonnie heard a dial tone. Apparently, she had been hung-up on. At the moment, she did not give a rat’s ass. She only wanted to make sure that Kim did not end up in jail. That was not just her priority; it was her _only_ priority.

“Damn it, this is Connie’s fault,” Bonnie griped with a sigh as she bowed her head for a moment in frustration.

She did not fault Kim for hitting her big sister. In fact, she was quite thankful for it. No one ever stood up for her in her house, especially when one of her sisters started up. In fact, sometimes, she got in trouble for it. She used to get scolded for whining, for being a tattletale, for making noise while “the game was one” and all sorts of things. Hell, that crap probably just encouraged her siblings to keep hurting her.

And, she was hurt by the foul, evil words that Connie spoke. More hurt than she had ever been for reasons she could not figure out. But, then again, her family left her puzzled on a great many things. She still could not figure out why her siblings hated her so much. Why her? What did she ever do?

“There has to be some explanation,” she mumbled, absently rubbing her forehead. People did not just hate people out of the blue for no reason, right?

Her siblings had detested her for as long as she could remember and they always made it known in some way. The thing that hurt of course was that Bonnie always looked up to them, not just her sisters, but all of them. She was the baby and they were her examples. They were her gods. Why the hell did they hate her so much when all she wanted was for them to accept her?

“Why?” she growled.

Tears began building up and flooding her turquoise eyes. She tried shaking the thoughts away, hoping it would keep her from crying. She searched her desk for her work and began looking the papers over. She reminded herself she did not have time to feel sorry for herself while sniffling. She had to save Kimmie.

“I also need something to show them when they come for us to go to lunch,” Bonnie commented to the air, wiping her eyes clear of her tears. She could already hear Shego making smart-ass remarks about her slacking off if she did not have anything to show them.

-8-8-8-8-

Shego and Kim sat in the waiting area of the law firm on a soft, cream-colored sofa. They were meeting up with Bonnie for lunch. They were waiting for her in the front because she assured them that there was not enough air in her office for them all to breathe in there. They could see her coming down the hall, though.

Bonnie shuffled through some papers on her hand and shoved a couple of folders in her briefcase. Her brow furrowed a little as she focused on one page. Kim and Shego watched her with small smiles on their faces and twinkles in their green gazes. She did not notice, which only made their expressions persist.

“Baby, could you take this to my office for me while I go handle this thing?” Bonnie requested, speaking to Kim of course because if she asked Shego she knew that she would get a response along the lines of “go to hell” or “what’s wrong with your legs?” and she was right.

“No problem,” Kim answered as she took a couple of files from Bonnie and walked off in the direction she knew the lawyer’s office was in. She had never been to the firm before, but having heard Bonnie complain about things enough, she knew Bonnie’s office was at the end of the hall crammed between the janitor’s closet and ladies’ room. Definitely not the best real estate.

“I’ll be right back,” Bonnie said to Shego, who waved her off.

“I don’t have anywhere to be,” Shego pointed out, which was not entirely true. She and Kim had classes to get back to that afternoon. It was just they had a lunchtime of two hours while Bonnie only had one.

Bonnie walked off in the direction that she faced. Shego watched her brunette girlfriend go and noticed something curious as Bonnie walked by an office. A fellow in a black suit with blond hair stuck his head out of the room and stared at Bonnie as she continued on down the hall. More specifically, he stared at Bonnie’s ass as she marched down the hall.

“What the hell?” Shego growled and arched an eyebrow as a fire flared inside of her that was hotter than her plasma could imagine. She got up from her seat and just casually went by the door. She glanced inside to see him on the phone. She glanced over at the name on the door: Lyle Townsend.

“Love, what’re you doing?” Bonnie asked as she returned from down the hall.

“Chasing after you,” Shego lied smoothly as she went to join Bonnie up the hall, only to walk back to the waiting area with her.

“I wasn’t going too far,” Bonnie pointed out. She was so focused on Shego that it did not occur to her whose office Shego had been standing by.

“No, but I thought I just remembered something I wanted to tell you, but I actually told you already, so it doesn’t matter,” the ex-sidekick replied casually, waving the whole thing off.

Bonnie did not suspect anything was up from that answer and took it as it was. Kim returned to them seconds later and they exited the firm together. They did not care how people looked at them on their way out, and, yes, many people did look at them.

Bonnie’s relationship status was not much of a secret at the firm. Well, the important people knew about the relationship anyway. Her being with Kim and Shego was not something that would get her fired, a fact which she was utterly thankful for, and she did not care if people wanted to talk about who she was with. She had job security and that was enough for her, so her coworkers could talk their heads off in her opinion.

The trio went to one of their old spots, from back when they used to all have lunch together. It was in the age before Heather, Shego liked to say. She and Kim rarely had lunch with Bonnie now because Heather monopolized the attorney’s time. This secretly bothered the hell out of her girlfriends, but they were being supportive of Bonnie since they knew how much her job meant to her. So, they would let her go with forced smiles and bright lies; Shego did most of the latter.

Bonnie suspected how much her lunch dates bothered her girlfriends. After all, they were rather possessive of each other. She really wished she could spend more time with them, but she knew they were behind her all the way in getting herself reestablished in the legal world, so she chased after her career with their backing. She hoped that soon she could stop running after her career and go back to spending time with her lovers.

“This brings back a few memories,” Kim commented as they all sat outside at their once-upon-a-time-usual café.

“Of gross men hitting on us?” Shego guessed because that happened more often than necessary to them at the particular restaurant that they were at. When they used to eat together all the time, she started to think that being hit on was like real estate and it depended on location, location, location.

“I didn’t say fond memories,” Kim remarked with a little chuckle. “It’s nice to sit around and be all together, though.” She smiled at her girlfriends.

Shego and Bonnie did not argue that one, but they did not say anything more to it either. After all, Kim was the openly sentimental one out of them. Kim would have scoffed loudly and laughed long and hard if she knew that was how they thought. She thought they were just as prone to being sentimental as she was. Hell, Bonnie had been the driving force behind Shego’s birthday surprise, they had both fallen apart when Kim had taken her little vacation from reality, and Shego had taken them on that splendid romantic getaway. So, Kim certainly was not the only one afflicted with sentimental feelings.

“Yeah, so, Duchess, how goes the fight to save our princess?” Shego inquired while they waited for someone to come and take their orders.

“It’s fine. I’ll be ready to tear them all apart in court next week,” Bonnie answered, patting the top of her brief case, which held her files for Kim’s case.

“You didn’t get any help with it or anything?” Shego asked with a craned eyebrow. She would have thought Bonnie would go all out for Kim and pick every legal mind at her disposal. But, then again, that probably was not necessary. She just from the way Bonnie had dealt with Global Justice for her that Bonnie was a force to be reckoned with. A courtroom might actually be Bonnie’s natural habitat.

“You know I didn’t. Nobody in that place has time for me and I don’t want their help anyway,” Bonnie replied. If she did not have any ideas or strategies of her own, sure, she would have no problem going around begging all of those seasoned lawyers littering the firm because she did not want to lose Kim in any way, shape, or form. But, it was not necessary because she knew just what she was going to do and she was going to win. She was going to win because she did not think that she had a choice.

“If that’s how you feel.” Shego shrugged, showing no signs of worry. The lawyer knew what she was doing, the pale woman reminded herself.

“Everything’ll be fine,” Kim said with a bright smile as she reached over and took Bonnie’s hand. She gave the brunette a gentle, but confident squeeze. 

“Yes, everything will be fine,” Bonnie promised as she returned the squeeze. There was no way she would allow Kim be taken away from them. They had been without her once and she was not ready to face that again. She was not willing to be the cause of them being without Kim either.

The trio ordered their food and then got indulged in something that had not happened in a long time. A group of young men walked by them and proceeded to hit on them. The ladies could not help laughing before they turned the men down, just like they used to: in a very rude fashion. Kim even got sucked into the malicious play, insulting one of the fellows who tried to pick her up. The trio had a good laugh after they sent the dudes away, hanging their heads in shame and the one that Bonnie dealt with actually crying.

“That was a bit mean of us,” Kim commented as their food was brought to them.

Shego snorted. “They deserved it. No reason to be pushy once a lady tells you no.”

Bonnie smirked. “Oh, and you’re a lady?”

Emerald eyes rolled. “More so than you, clearly. I mean, Kimmie did come after me, after all.”

“She just felt sorry for you,” Bonnie countered. “She might have come after you, but she came home to me.”

“But, she came back to me.”

“Okay, you two. Can we not go through this?” Kim requested. She still felt a little guilty about falling in love with Shego while she was with Bonnie, even though it all worked out.

“Fine,” both ladies agreed, sighing.

They finished up their lunch and then headed back to the law firm, not wanting Bonnie to be late. They were all smiles when they returned, which was something that people around the firm were not used to seeing with Bonnie.

Bonnie walked around the law firm typically looking quite annoyed, a tense scowl on her face much of the time. It was understandable considering how she was treated, even now around the place. The partners still acted like they did not want her around, offended with being forced to hire her, despite the fact that she had shown she was quite competent in law. Sure, she had not gotten a chance to go in the courtroom yet, but she could do research and find angles to cases that many other associates at the very least glanced over. Still, she was the pariah of the firm.

“Guys, I’ll be by the office in a second. I need to go see something,” Shego said to her lovers as they started heading toward Bonnie’s office.

“Going to see Mister Darrow?” Bonnie asked. Who else could Shego be going to see around here? Maybe she knew other partners.

Shego made a hand gesture that did not mean anything, but her girlfriends took it as affirming Bonnie’s guess. The plasma-wielder strolled down the hall, headed in the opposite direction. There was someone that she needed to talk to.

Shego paused at the office that she had stood next to earlier that afternoon. The door was shut, but she did not care about that. She knocked on the door.

“I’m on the phone,” a voice answered in a gruff tone.

“I don’t give a damn,” Shego practically sang in an almost happy tone as she forced the door open.

“What the hell!” the occupant of the office, one Lyle Townsend, bellowed. The blond looked quite upset with the intrusion. His face flushed red while his mouth bent into a scowl and his eyebrows followed suit. A vein pushed out his neck as if he was going to explode… and to think, she had not even gotten started yet.

“I think I need to give you some legal advice,” Shego remarked as she closed the door behind her. She smirked, the fires of Hell blazing in her eyes.

“Look, honey, I’m on the phone and I’m the lawyer around here,” Lyle stated with an obvious attitude, his slight Texas drawl coming out.

Shego rolled her eyes as she calmly approached his desk, her hair swaying behind her like the tail of a big cat. She looked positively predatory. Her eyes narrowed on her prey for a moment. She nonchalantly disconnected his call and watched as his outrage seemed to shoot through the roof, causing his face turn a bright crimson. She wondered how long it would take for steam to come out of his ears and for his head to just erupt.

“Just what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Lyle demanded and he was about to hop out of his seat, but Shego put an end to that by pushing him down onto the cushion. She held him in place with her palm in his chest. She gave him a little pressure, just for him to get the idea that he would not be able to get up, even if he struggled.

“That’s the question I should be asking you. Just what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Shego inquired with a deep frown.

“Take your hands off of me,” he commanded her in a strong tone despite the fact that he could feel the power she possessed just from her hand on his torso.

“Fine!” Shego moved her hand, letting it fall to her side, and kept him in place by stepping in his crotch. “Better?” she inquired with a demented smile on her face. His scream of pain answered that question.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” he snarled through gritted teeth while trying to get out from under her foot. She pressed down deeper, daring him to try to get up now. He broke out in a sweat while howling in agony.

“Is everything all right in there, Lyle?” a female voice called from the door.

“He’s fine,” Shego called in an extra-sweet voice to give off the idea that the screams coming from the office were not ones of pain.

She heard the person at the door let loose a high-pitch “eep!” and then scurry away. She had a feeling that would work. He struck her as the type of jackass that would carry on at work. She turned her attention back to Lyle.

There were tears in his blue eyes, which brought a cruel smile to her face. There was deep scarlet hue overtaking his peach complexion because of the pressure and the rage storming through him. She hoped he acted on the rage, so he could feel her true wrath.

“Now, listen careful, you’re a dick. I can tell. You look at Bonnie like she’s a piece of meat again and I’m crushing this little thing between your legs, got it?” Shego stated in a harsh tone while adding some more pressure. She doubted she even needed to list the other things she had planned for him if she ever caught him looking at one of her girls again.

“Yes!” he hollered, wanting the pain to end. Tears trailed down his cheeks as if they were fleeing his eyes.

“Good,” Shego said and she stepped in a little harder before pushing off of him. His chair moved back, hitting hard against the wall.

“Ah!” he screamed in agony and then he watched her as she turned to leave. He took some deep breathes, looking to find his voice before she made it out of the room. He was not about to take such abuse after all. “You don’t know who you’re fucking with, lady! I’ll put you in jail by the end of the day!” he declared as loudly as he could, which was not much.

“Yeah, talk to my lawyer about that. He’s the guy whose name is on the door of the building,” she replied coolly as she exited the office. She made sure to slam the door as loudly as possible.

Lyle did not believe her, of course. She did not think he would, but she thought it would be fun when he went digging. She figured she would wait and see what he was going to go. He would end up shooting himself in the foot, she thought. She then went to Bonnie’s office.

“Holy shit,” Shego complained as she tried to go into the office.

“I should be the one saying that. You’re hitting me with the door, after all,” Kim pointed out with a little frown while trying to move out of the way, but there was not much space for her to go anywhere. There was about five feet of standing room in the office and Bonnie had a bookshelf, taking away from that area to stand in.

“What the hell? Is this a fucking closet?” Shego inquired as she inched in, keeping the door open to give them air and more space.

“I think I used to be,” Bonnie replied, moving over from her desk. She was trying to give Kim space over by her, so the redhead would not have to be stuck behind the door.

“This is bullshit,” Shego muttered in disbelief, looking around like she could not believe this. Why the hell was her lover stuck in a damn closet when she was a top-notch attorney? She was tempted to go curse out Charlie Darrow about the treatment, but she knew that Bonnie wanted to build her own way in the firm.

“That it is,” Bonnie murmured in agreement.

“I feel like we’re about to take a trip to fucking Narnia,” Shego remarked.

“I don’t think there’s enough space for that,” Kim replied.

“How the hell is this desk even in here?” Shego grumbled, trying to move more to get comfortable.

The ladies had to adjust themselves in the office before they could get to any other business. Kim ended up on Bonnie’s lap, which neither complained about, even though they were used to things being the reverse if they had to share a seat. Shego sat at the seat at the front of the desk, but still kept the door open.

“This is really bullshit. I can see why you tell us not to buy junk for your office. You don’t have any place to put it!” Shego snorted. She wanted to throw her arms up, but she was nervous that she might hit something or someone.

“Nope, although I now wouldn’t mind a Kimmie to keep around the office,” Bonnie remarked as she put her hands around Kim’s waist. She liked having Kim sitting on her for once. She made a mental note to try to get it to happen more often.

“No way. I need that Kimmie to keep around the school,” Shego countered with an amused smile.

“Well, then how about I get a Shego?” Bonnie requested, trying to pull off the puppy-dog pout. She was not as good as it as her girlfriends were, but she was getting there.

“And what would I keep at school?” Kim asked as if she was truly worried.

“Well, it’s not fair that you guys get a Kimmie or a Shego and I get nothing,” Bonnie pretended to whine and pout deeply.

“This is why you should just work for the school,” Shego commented, looking smug for no reason other than she thought she got to the lawyer.

Bonnie shook her head and then they changed gears, looking to talk a bit deeper about the upcoming trial. They did not to do it for too long because it got hot in the small room since they were cramped together, and for once they were not enjoying it. Shego practically jumped into the hallway to escape. She sucked in the stale hallway air as if it was mountain fresh.

“I never thought I could hate being so close to you guys,” Shego commented under her breath. 

“I never thought I could get hot in a bad way around you two,” Kim remarked as she too rushed out of the office. She fanned herself with her hand.

“God, they couldn’t even give the duchess a fucking window. Bastards,” Shego hissed.

Bonnie did not even add anything to that. All she thought about was how Kim was a lot heavier than she looked, and what the scale in their bathroom claimed. Having the redhead on her lap in the baking office was not the best idea either, she mentally conceded. Being so close to Kim had made her hot to the point that her shirt was stuck to her, as was her skirt.

“We might as well get back to the school. Yori’s probably hiding from whoever’s there for my class,” Shego remarked, but she was somewhat serious. 

“You need to tell your fan-girls to stop harassing our only ninjutsu teacher if they want to keep learning the form,” Kim replied.

Shego smirked. “But, it’s so much fun to watch her flee in terror.”

“You’re so evil,” Kim stated and then they both turned their attention to Bonnie. They bid her a rather dispassionate farewell with brief handshakes and what looked like fake hugs. It was either that or a public display that might have pushed the limit and Bonnie could be fired. 

“Bye, loves. Everything’ll be fine,” Bonnie assured them. She was going to handle the case and they all knew that.

Kim and Shego returned to their school, where Shego’s students were indeed harassing Yori. Shego had over a dozen students that could be categorized as “fan-girls,” but those were not really the ones who bugged Yori. The ones that got a kick out of harassing the ninja were four students who looked at Shego as sort of a big sister.

The four students, three girls and one boy, were teenagers, who seemed to be lost until they wandered into the school one day. They took to all three teachers in different ways. Shego was the one they seemed to want to be like and they copied her attitude as best they could.

They went to Kim for help with academics and for any emotional support, knowing Shego would just tell them to suck it up. They also did not want Shego to know if they were having emotional turmoil because they wanted Shego to think they were strong as rocks. So, they went for Kim for things like that, too. Kim was more like a mother hen to them. 

Yori, they respected her deeply, but they also looked at her as a person they could have fun with. They did this in the same way Shego sometimes had fun with Kim by saying or doing something inappropriate. Shego made it a point to tell that that if an angry blond guy with a blue glowing aura came looking for them, she was just going to point him in their direction. They did not get her meaning, of course.

“Hey, tweedle-dumb, dumber, dumbest, and ugly, leave the instructor alone!” Shego barked at the four, who were in Yori’s office while she was obviously trying to get in some work before her students arrived.

The four jumped like startled puppies and turned to the doorway. They saw Shego smirking at them, looking like a demon they thought she might be. They gulped when she beckoned them over with a come-hither motion of her index finger. Yori looked so relieved when they started marching toward Shego as if they were walking toward the gallows. 

“Next time they come in here, you should beat ‘em up. Their uncle doesn’t know where the bruises come from, after all,” Shego remarked with a light laugh.

Yori just shook her head. “They’re just children,” she replied in a tired, but understanding tone. 

“Children that need their asses kicked,” Shego pointed out quite seriously. “I know they disciplined kids at your school.”

The ninja shook her head again. She could not harm kids just for being slightly mischievous, even if they were annoying. Well, they were more than slightly mischievous, but they were not the worst kids on the planet. She had met much worse kids in her life. Sometimes, she walked Hana to school and got a good look at some real bad apples. 

“You need to get used to it. You’re probably going to have kids one day,” Shego said with a grin, teasing a bit.

Yori snorted. “My children would be much better behaved.”

Shego guffawed. “With that buffoon as a dad? I think you’re going to be climbing the walls.” 

Yori narrowed her gaze and Shego decided to make her getaway. Shego walked the troublesome quartet to her class while scolding them for being pests. She only got halfway through the reprimands before she was cut off by several screams of “teacher!” and her fan-girls were in her face. Her demon students ran off when they had the chance, smiling all the way through.

“Don’t think I won’t get back to you four bad-asses!” Shego promised them. _Damn bad-ass kids_ , she commented mentally while turning her attention to the masses gathered around her to find out what they wanted.

Shego was not the only one to be ambushed by her students. Kim tended to get tackled by her kids if they were waiting for her. Yori’s students were the only ones that all showed discipline and restraint much of the time. Kim at least had the excuse that her students were all small children, but Shego did not even bother with an excuse. Her students knew how to fight and that was all that mattered to her.

Thankfully, none of the students knew about Kim’s upcoming trial. They would run their mouths about it until it was over, even Kim’s little students. The teachers did not have to put up with that. It made it so hard to focus a lot of their pupils when they all had something in common to talk about beyond martial arts. 

“You worried about this at all?” Shego asked Kim as they locked up the school for the night.

“Nope. You?” Kim countered, an eyebrow raised in curiosity. 

“Nope,” Shego answered easily and honestly. Bonnie had come through for them enough times for her to know there was no reason to worry. There was no way her Duchess would let her Princess down.

“So, let’s get to it.”

Shego nodded. They always sparred until Bonnie came in. They all went upstairs together and had a usual relaxing night together.

Bonnie was glad they were acting so normal. It showed they had faith in her to fix things. She was not going to let her loving family be broken up by those jackasses she shared blood with. And she would later find out they were very much jackasses. 

-*-(New day)-*-

“Oh, come the hell on,” Bonnie groaned as she was pulled from her work by her phone ringing. She glanced over to see who was calling her and saw that it was Heather. She frowned deeply, but answered the phone anyway. “Hello.” 

“Hey, it’s me,” Heather said, sounding nearly chipper.

“I know. I can’t really talk right now, though,” Bonnie replied. 

“No? What about our usual lunch date? Will we be meeting today?” Heather asked, sounding like she was pouting.

“I doubt it. I’ve got to be in court in a couple of hours.” She wished she had this excuse more often.

“Court? Why are you going to court?” the movie star inquired.

“That’s none of your concern. It’s for my other client. I’ve got to get going. I’ll talk to you later,” Bonnie replied and she disconnected the call by replacing the phone in its cradle.

Bonnie could imagine Heather was quite upset with her for hanging up, but she did not care. Her one concern was making sure her baby did not end up in jail. She was going to go argue her heart out and show the world that her sister was an asshole and that was why she got punched in the mouth. She would also have to prove there was no malicious intent behind the punch to get Kim off of the aggravated assault charge.

She really could not believe Kim had been charged with aggravated assault. Okay, so she knew martial arts. She had not used her vast and deadly skills against Connie, though. She hit Connie with a straight right hand, nothing behind it. Hell, she had not even gotten into a fighting stance to do it. It was just a straight hit that any person could have dished out. Connie just happened to have a glass jaw to make things seem worse than they were. 

A knock on the door took Bonnie away from her thoughts. She looked up and was shocked to see who was darkening her doorway. It was her boss, Charlie Darrow. It took a lot of composure for her to remain nonchalant.

“Good luck,” he simply said. For some reason, the simple gesture seemed like it had a lot of weight behind it. 

“I don’t need luck. Legal rottweiler, remember?” Bonnie remarked with a small smile.

The older man just nodded, knowing about her nickname before she even worked for his firm. He walked off without saying anything else to Bonnie. She shrugged, not thinking much of his visit. Her mind was focused on the fact that she was going into court. It was about time. _Now, if only it wasn’t at Kim’s expense_. She sighed.

“Hey, Duchess, you ready to go?” Shego asked as she and Kim came to the door. They were dressed formally for Bonnie and Kim’s day in court. Kim was dressed a bit more conservatively compared to Shego, but then again, Shego was not going to be the one in the defendant chair, so that made sense.

Kim had on a plain cream-colored pantsuit. She had a tan shirt underneath it with matching shoes. Her hair was the same, but she looked professional. Most people probably would not believe she was Kim Possible since she almost always in casual, comfortable clothing.

Shego had on a black dress that turned a few heads while she was walking down the hall to Bonnie’s office. The low, black heels were not helping in deflecting attention. She did not mind, of course. 

“I am ready. Let’s go kick some ass,” Bonnie declared as she stood up and grabbed her briefcase.

Shego smirked, a lecherous leer in her deep jade eyes. “I love it when you’re all charged up.” 

“We don’t have time for that,” Bonnie pointed out.

“Please, with your office, we don’t have space for it either. Unless Kim wants to show us just how much she can bend,” Shego quipped.

“You know, I can do anything, but some things I don’t even wanna try,” Kim commented, looking around. She shook her head.

The trio chuckled and made their way out of the office. They took Bonnie’s car down to the courthouse, which was not a long ride. They looked at the building for a moment.

Bonnie had to fight off a grin. She was so happy to be back in court, even if it was because Kim was charged with aggravated assault. She knew she would get Kim off of the charge, so she only had room in her heart to be happy. 

“Don’t do a dance at the end of this thing,” Shego teased, noticing the light in Bonnie’s eyes.

“I make no promises,” Bonnie replied with a smile. They went in.

-8-8-8-8-

The jury had already been selected. Bonnie was certain it was a good group for her, which was one of the reasons she was so confident coming into the trial. The jury was made up of mostly young people, who she believed grew up around the same time she and Kim did, meaning they had time to admire Kim. There were also quite a few men on the jury, who Bonnie believed would understand Kim’s actions better than women. She was pretty sure most guys had been in a position where they had to stand up for a girlfriend.

Bonnie sat down at the defense table with Kim. She did not glance around the gallery looking for the other Rockwallers. She could care less than a damn about where they were. She spotted the Doctors Possible and the Gos, who were all sitting right behind her with Shego. The Possible twins could not make it, as they had class, and Kim forced them to attend school rather than this.

The sight that truly shocked Bonnie was her big brother Johnnie sitting next to Shego. He was there with Brick. He smiled when he noticed Bonnie looking in his direction. He did not get a chance to say anything because Kane chimed in. 

“Kick ass,” Kane said with a smile, giving Bonnie two thumbs up. He was in between his daughter and wife.

“Idiot,” Isabel grumbled and slapped her husband in the back of the head for his inappropriate behavior in the courtroom.

“Do I have to separate you two?” Ann joked, speaking to Isabel and Kane. She was between Isabel and James. It was nice to see she got along well enough with the Gos to joke with them. 

“Oh, can I sit on your lap?” Kane inquired with an eager, perverted grin.

“Hit him again,” the brain surgeon sighed and Isabel had no problem with complying.

“Daddy, don’t let that evil woman pick on you like that,” Shego objected, leaning over to her father with a serious expression on her face. 

The antics would have continued if the judge did not enter the room. The trial got underway with that. Opening statements left little doubt where each lawyer was going with their argument.

The prosecutor stood up and smiled. He looked charming, but his eyes held a seriousness. “I know everyone is wondering what we’re doing here. How could the famous Kim Possible be on trial for anything, right? Well, we all have different sides to us and this is the result of the more human side of Kim Possible. She has anger just like the rest of us. But, unlike the rest of us, Kim Possible is also the master of several forms of bone-breaking martial arts.

“It’s clear that her knowledge of such deadly art forms, which enabled her to fight with all sorts of villains, super-villains, and all around madmen that made her dangerous. Added to that is this temper we didn’t know anything about. But, her temper made her hit a regular woman like Connie Rockwaller and add in her knowledge of all sorts of terrible fighting forms, makes it actually aggravated assault. There’s no telling what Kim Possible and her secret wrath could’ve done to the innocent Miss Rockwaller.”

Throughout the statement, he made it sound like Kim should have killed Connie when she hit her. He also made it a point to remind everyone about the rumors going on around about Kim and her love triangle with two women in the courtroom, one her lawyer and the other a former assistant to a megalomaniac. 

“This just shows how little we really know about Kim Possible. The rumors have to mean something. After all, Shego, a woman who has tried to take over the world several times, is sitting in the gallery to show support for Kim. Kim Possible isn’t just her hero image. She obviously has some morality issues because of her abnormal personal life,” he openly stated before sitting down. He gave Bonnie a little smirk.

Bonnie rolled her eyes and stood. “Before anything else, please, remember Kim Possible is a hero. Not just big things like saving the world more times than any of us will ever know, but small things. She’s the person people call to get cats out of trees, not the fire department. She’s the person people call when their home has been flooded and they need to save important items. Kindness doesn’t do her justice. Kim is a goody-goody and would never do anything with malicious intent. She was only trying to protect someone, like always…” Bonnie stunned her family by revealing exactly what happened that night in great detail. She wanted everyone to know just who Kim was protecting and from what.

Shego watched the jury, as did her parents and the Possibles. They noticed some nods and slightly intense expressions as Bonnie spoke. They took those as good signs. Their eyes remained locked on the jury while the prosecution started to present its case.

“This is a lot of bull…” Shego muttered only to be shushed by both her mother and Ann. Kane chuckled at his daughter for a moment until she shot a glare at him. He pretended to zip up his mouth.

They focused back on the trial. Witnesses were called and questioned. Bonnie did a good job in getting under the witnesses’ skins, mostly because everyone called was her sibling or parent. It helped that she had been standing there when the assault took place.

Because of all of the witnesses that were called, the trial was long. By the time lunch recess was called, the prosecution had not even gone through half of their witnesses. Still, Bonnie had gone through them with little problem, making them admit all sorts of terrible deeds, putting them on trial. She smiled at the prosecutor on the way out.

Bonnie and Kim went to join their lover, the Possibles, and the Gos for lunch. Bonnie did not glance around for her family. She was happy Johnnie did not impose himself on her, even if he was there to support her and Kim. She was not still too comfortable with him and just because they were both homosexual did not mean their past was erased and they were perfect siblings now. 

“You are kicking some serious ass, Bonnie,” Kane declared with a grin, putting his arms around her shoulders. He pulled her to him and hugged her that way. She immediately put her brother out of her head thanks to Kane’s fond hold.

“Not really,” Bonnie replied modestly.

“Hey, don’t try that. I know a couple of things about law and I know you’re doing a damn good job,” Kane stated in a rare moment of seriousness. The grin he sported made it damn hard to know he was being serious, though.

“You know something about law?” James asked with a scoff. From the few times he had been around Kane, he would honestly be shocked if the shorter male had any sort of education at all… and had not been dropped on his head repeatedly as a baby. Hey, Kane could not be too bright to keep getting hit by his wife now could he? 

“When he says he knows something about the law, it just means he once watched a TV show that had a trial in it,” Isabel remarked dryly. She did not like encouraging James to pick on her husband considering she did not like James, but she could not let that one go by.

“You’re killing me, Bella,” Kane groaned as if he was wounded. He released Bonnie and clutched his chest.

Bonnie chuckled a little. It amused her that the father of the once-most-wanted-woman in the world and definitely one of the most feared women on Earth was so goofy and adorable. He was quite the contrast to the father that she had grown up with and she could see why Shego loved him so dearly, even if Shego would never admit that. Bonnie was happy Kane was such a warm and accepting individual. 

“You are doing fine, dear,” Isabel assured Bonnie with a small, soft smile.

“Yes, you’re taking those witnesses down easily,” Ann concurred, smiling too. 

“It doesn’t bother you, does it?” Kim asked quietly with concern, taking Bonnie’s hand into her own.

“Of course not. I’d do anything to keep you out of jail,” Bonnie replied, giving Kim’s hand a tight squeeze. Kim had to know she meant more to Bonnie than any member of the Rockwaller family ever could.

“Then let’s keep your strength up and get you some lunch,” Shego commented, putting her arm around Bonnie. 

Bonnie smiled, enjoying all of the encouraging words and gestures. Her joy was cut short for a moment when the prosecutor approached her. She and her party frowned until he requested to speak with Bonnie alone for a moment.

“Plea bargain,” Shego commented bluntly and out of the blue. 

“You think?” Kim asked with a craned eyebrow.

“Trust her. Shona’s seen that look plenty of times, right, Shona?” Kane smiled teasingly at his daughter.

“Daddy, don’t start with me,” Shego replied, trying to sound threatening, but she was smiling. She held up a fist, hoping that would back up her words. Kane just grinned.

-8-8-8-8-

Bonnie walked off to the side with the prosecutor. He was an older gentleman, but probably no older than his mid-forties… or so she guessed from his facial features anyway. He had on an expensive dark blue suit with a sharp red tie. His short dark brown hair was combed back. He had a confident look about him that morning and he was still trying to put up the pretense of having it, but she could see right through him.

“I’m willing to drop the charge down to simple assault,” he informed her quite bluntly.

“My, that’s quite sudden. I mean, this morning you made it seem like Kim was lucky she wasn’t being charged with attempted murder,” Bonnie commented dryly.

“Assault, take it or leave it. No jail time, a fine or maybe some community service, which let’s face it, your client would do in no time at all,” he stated firmly. 

“I’ll have to talk it over with my client.”

Bonnie walked away before he could argue with her. She returned to her group and they walked off to have lunch. They got a booth at a nearby restaurant and that was when Bonnie dropped the news.

“They offered a lesser charge of assault. No jail time,” Bonnie told Kim. “Do you want to take it?” 

“Would I have to plead guilty?” Kim asked.

“Well, there is that one problem,” Bonnie replied. 

“Kim would have a criminal record then,” James pointed out.

“Fuck that. Don’t take that bullshit,” Isabel told Bonnie, waving her hand. 

“You’re kicking his ass and that’s why he made the offer,” Kane chimed in.

“Continue to kick his ass,” Shego finished off her parents’ sentiment, throwing up a fist in support.

“I concur,” Ann said enthusiastically, getting swept up in the Gos’ gung-ho attitude. 

“Hey, can’t argue with that kind of attitude,” Kim remarked with a smile of her own and a shrug.

“Get him, Duchess,” Shego said.

Bonnie smiled, her heart beating faster from the vote of confidence coming from her lovers and their parents. She could not believe they all trusted her so easily win the case. She silently promised not to let them down. _I’ll keep pouring all of my legal training into this_.

The lunch went nicely until the Rockwaller family entered the same restaurant. Shego and Kim turned to look at them while Bonnie just ignored their presences, which they loudly announced when they entered the place. The Possibles and Gos could not help looking over at the crew, too.

“They got a bigger tribe than we do,” Kane commented almost as if he was impressed. 

“Yeah, but we could take them,” Isabel remarked with a smile, but a serious glint in her emerald eyes.

“This is where Shego gets it from,” Ann said with a sigh as she shook her head wearily. 

“You just now figured that out? And you actually went to school for so many years to become a doctor?” Isabel teased.

“Just don’t start any trouble,” James seemed to order.

The Gos all looked at each other incredulously. Them, start trouble? Why the very idea, they all thought sarcastically. They watched the Rockwallers get a couple of booths on the opposite side of the restaurant.

“Bonnie, your sisters have nice asses,” Kane remarked, which earned him a sharp uppercut from his now frowning spouse. He fell back. “Not as nice as yours, though, Bella,” he grumbled while holding his jaw.

“Maybe we should go talk to them,” Isabel said in a tense voice, still frowning quite a bit. 

“No, please, don’t!” Bonnie begged with panic in her voice. Her blue-green eyes opened wide, imploring with the Gos to stay seated.

All eyes at the table went to Bonnie because the pleading tone that escaped her. She shrank back into her seat, thoroughly embarrassed she had sounded so vehement about things. She swallowed hard and stared down at the food in front of her. 

“Don’t worry, Bonnie. They’re not going anywhere,” Ann assured the lawyer in a gentle tone.

“Yeah, it was just a joke,” Kane lied smoothly with a laugh. He, Isabel, and Shego damn sure would be over there right now, “talking” to the Rockwallers if the idea did not seem to freak Bonnie out.

“Okay,” Bonnie murmured with a sigh of relief. She calmed down since she knew they were not going to go over there now.

Shego and Kim each put an arm around Bonnie, hoping to make her feel better. They wondered why she bugged out so much about the idea of the Gos going over to her family. They guessed she just thought the wild trio would end up starting trouble with her family and causing more problems, which was probably an accurate concern.

Bonnie relaxed in their embrace. She smiled a bit from the affection, which her girlfriends noticed. They glanced at each other and gave each other devilish smirks. They then wasted no time in kissing Bonnie on the mouth.

James turned away, more embarrassed than disgusted for the first time since knowing the three were together. Ann also turned away, thoroughly embarrassed by the quick kiss. Isabel rolled her eyes while Kane chuckled a bit. The trio noted those reactions when they pulled away and they were glad to see that their parents could stomach them doing such things.

“Okay, let’s get lunch before I can’t stomach the thought of eating because of certain people carrying on,” Isabel remarked, defusing what was almost an awkward situation. 

Luckily, lunch went without a scene being caused. The Go family did make it a point to glare poisonous daggers that Rockwallers as they left. Donnie made a gesture like he was going to stand up from his seat, which certainly stopped the Go family for a second. They wished he would get up! They were yanked out of the restaurant before anything could happen, though.

“Come on, all of you,” Ann said to the Gos.

-8-8-8-8-

Bonnie turned down the prosecutor’s deal and the trial pressed on. The day was full of witnesses once again. Bonnie actually relished in the chance to tear her siblings apart on the stand during cross-examination, but she knew she had to be careful with it. She did not want the jury to think she was being a bitch, but she did want them to know that every member of her family that got up for the prosecutor was an asshole. By the time each and everyone of them left the stand, there was no doubt what they were. The prosecution rested at the end of the day and the judge ruled the defense would pick up their case tomorrow. 

“You’re doing fine,” Ann promised Bonnie as they got ready to leave the courthouse.

“Thanks,” Bonnie said with a small smile.

Bonnie was about to say something else, but she noticed her brothers coming toward her. She froze, but she was not the only one that noticed. The Gos moved to the front of the group, looking to meet Donnie and Ronnie before they got to anyone else.

“I’d keep it moving if I were you,” Shego warned the brothers with a heated look burning in her eyes.

“Yeah, believe it or not, aggravated assault is the last thing we’re worried about if we start hitting you,” Isabel assured the brothers. Her eyes held the same look as her daughter’s. 

“We can’t take you three anywhere,” James commented with a bit of a huff. 

“We’re just following in Kimmie’s footsteps,” Kane remarked, keeping his eyes locked on Bonnie’s brothers.

Kim’s parents scowled. Apparently, they were not amused. The Rockwallers did not seem amused either.

Donnie and Ronnie stared down the Go family for a few tense seconds. The emerald and amethyst eyes gazed back at them, hard as the stones they were colored after. The brothers showed signs of having brains and wisely walked off.

“Jackasses,” Isabel and Shego stated loudly and bluntly. 

“Let’s get going,” Ann said and the group agreed. 

-*-(Next day)-*-

Kim and Shego were in Bonnie’s office. They were dressed up again. They were all about to head to the courthouse.

Bonnie just wanted to go over Kim’s testimony one last time. Yes, Bonnie planned to put Kim on the stand because she was confident Kim would make it through whatever the prosecutor threw at her. She hoped hearing from Kim would get the jury on their side, too. She was pretty sure the jury already hated her siblings, which she felt they, and the rest of the world, should. 

The trio was held up from leaving by a last minute surprise. The office door swung open roughly, which would not have been a problem if one person were in the office. With three standing people in the tiny space, the door caused a huge problem.

“What the fuck?” Shego grunted as the opening door slammed into her. The office really was too small.

Bonnie turned her attention to the front door to see who was coming in. She frowned as she noticed the tall redhead darkening her doorway. She guessed there was going to be some problems before they even made it to the courthouse. 

“Bonnie, I won’t have you blowing me off anymore,” Heather proclaimed as she tried to walk into the office.

“Hey, can’t you see you can’t fit your ass in here?” Shego complained as she shoved the door into the invading redhead, successfully smacking Heather with the knob. 

Heather grunted and frowned. “Don’t hit me with the door. I could buy and sell your sorry ass.”

“I doubt that one very much,” Shego replied in a challenging tone. A smug look in her eyes as she tilted her head up a little. 

“Shego,” Kim said, knowing that tone of voice. Shego was looking to start some trouble. 

“Look, Heather, I don’t have time for you. I’ve got to be in court in twenty minutes,” Bonnie stated soundly.

“I won’t let you keep blowing me off like this. You are _my_ lawyer—” Heather started, but she was cut off. 

“Look, you’re just trying to fuck Bonnie. We all know this. Bonnie’s a very fuckable person, but we don’t have time for this,” Shego said bluntly. Even though she said it easily, she clearly did not like admitting it because her face was twisted into a tight frown.

“And who are you?” Heather demanded, glaring at the pale woman.

“Her pissed off girlfriend. What the fuck does it matter? Get the hell out of the way. We have to go to court,” Shego barked. She was about to just grab Heather and fling the movie star out of the way. Hey, why the hell should she be polite to a woman trying to hump her Duchess? She did not care if the woman was Bonnie’s first client and she could only pretend to be okay with things for so long. 

“Shego!” Kim admonished the older woman while reaching out to grab her and prevent her from harming Heather.

Heather turned her attention to the other redhead in the room and was stunned to find that she knew the young woman. “Kim?”

The hero turned to the starlet. “Hey, Heather. I’d love to talk, but we’ve got to get to court and you’re holding us up. You can have Bonnie back in a few days,” she remarked with a forced smile. She was not very happy to have those words leave her mouth since she was just as possessive of Bonnie as Shego was, but she needed to say something to get Heather out of the way.

Kim yanked Shego out, pushing passed Heather without saying anything. Bonnie followed her girlfriends out. She stopped to speak with Heather for a moment.

“We’ll talk about this later, but you might need to find a new lawyer,” Bonnie informed her client. She did not want to deal with Heather acting like an abandoned girlfriend when they only had a business relationship. She was not going to let Heather ruin the relationship that she already had. Heather would never be able to replace Kim and Shego, as business or pleasure.

Heather’s mouth fell open, but words would not form. She was left looking shocked by those words while Bonnie rushed after her lovers. Hopefully, after this stint in court, she would gain the trust of the firm and get more work, so she would not have to worry about Heather ever again. 

“You know what, I hate her,” Shego said bluntly. She hated Heather and she was going to curse her out the first chance she got. If Kim were not around, she would get in some good hits. Hell, if Kim was around, she should be able to work in one good hit before Kim managed to pull her off like now.

“Yeah, we sorta figured that out when you hit her with the door,” Kim commented dryly. 

“She hit me first,” Shego defended her actions. “Could she be any more desperate, too? I mean, yes, the Duchess is hot as fuck, but god, at least ask her out for real and not on some old bullshit about wanting to talk business,” she stated. It was something that Bonnie agreed with and she nodded without realizing it.

“Please, if she asked Bonnie out seriously, you’d be at her house door, kicking it in, and threatening to light her up if she touched your Duchess,” Kim quipped.

“And you wouldn’t be right behind me? No, actually, probably not. You’d probably be out punching more Rockwallers in the mouth, which doesn’t make you less violent than me,” Shego hummed. 

Kim glared at the former thief. “I’m never going to hear the end of this, am I?”

“Do the words ‘hell’ and ‘no’ mean anything to you?” Shego countered with a smirk.

Kim sighed, but even now she did not regret hitting Connie. She just could not let that woman get away with saying those hurtful, mean-spirited, and evil things toward Bonnie. Hell, she would do it again if she had to.

The trio went to court. Before Bonnie got to present her case, the judge called her and the prosecutor into chambers. The prosecutor was still pushing for plea down of simple assault and community service, but Bonnie would not go for it. She would take her chances with the jury. It was a wise decision.

The jury went in for deliberations in the afternoon. Bonnie waited in the hall with her lovers and their parents. Her family was down the hall, glancing up at them every now and then. The Gos returned the looks.

“Don’t you three even think about it,” Kim said to the Go family. 

“I could just run down there and slap the shit out of one of them. They’d never even know,” Kane said with a thoughtful look on his face. His daughter nodded in agreement with that.

“Is he serious?” Bonnie wondered aloud. She knew he was as slow as a salted slug most of the time.

“If you want, I’ll give him permission and you find out,” Isabel replied, smirking a little. If Kane really wanted to go over there, she would not be able to stop him. After all, hitting him was not really a punishment in his mind, even if she meant it. 

“That’s all right. One assault charge is more than enough for me to handle,” Bonnie remarked with a light laugh. She really was not in the mood to find out if Kane could do what he boasted.

“I wouldn’t bother you with a little case like that, Bonnie. That’s what I have my nutty lawyers for,” Kane retorted with a grin.

“And here it is I would’ve thought you had them for your daughter,” James grumbled under his breath. He did not mean to say that out loud, but the shorter fellow sort of set that one up. Thankfully, no one heard him.

The group, fortunately, did not have to wait around in the hall for too long, but they were there long enough for Isabel and Shego to get into a little “thing.” Some “light” arguing, which meant a lot of cursing and threats were exchanged. The mother and daughter stopped immediately when they found out that the jury was back with a decision. It was like they flipped a switch and everything was all right again. Everyone returned to the courtroom to find out Kim’s fate. 

Kim took a deep breath and took Bonnie’s hand in hers as she faced the jury. They held onto each tightly, Bonnie more so than Kim actually. Kim yanked on Bonnie’s hand slightly, just to get her attention. The turquoise-eyed attorney looked at her girlfriend, who gave her a soft, confident smile.

“On count one: the charge of aggravated assault we the jury find the defendant not guilty,” the jury foreman announced.

Bonnie felt like she could fall over. Thankfully, Kim hugged her and that kept her on her feet. Shego, her parents, and the Possibles jumped up to congratulate the lawyer, even though they all knew she would get Kim off. Still, Bonnie deserved praise after such a trying situation and they made sure to heap it on her.

They walked out of the courtroom patting Bonnie on the back. Bonnie caught a glimpse of Johnnie disappearing out of the room ahead of them and once again she was happy he did not try to pretend that everything was fine between them. Maybe one day soon, she would reach out to him and see how willing he was to mend their relationship.

Their joy was cut off for a moment as the Rockwallers approached the group, looking to start trouble undoubtedly. The Rockwallers rolled up almost like a gang. The Gos and Kim tensed from the family’s presence.

“How could you go against your own family like this?” Bonnie’s mother demanded in a heated tone. She looked so outraged and disgusted, like she honestly could not believe that Bonnie would side with Kim.

“Against my family? Mom, I don’t know if you missed it, but you all called me a freak. Connie said I wouldn’t amount to anything. She called me worthless and no one disagreed. Well, I’ve got news for you: I am somebody. I’m a damn good attorney. I’ve got a family that accepts me for who I am, that loves me for who I am, and would never say such things to me and mean it. And I’ve got two women who love me in ways you couldn’t even fathom,” Bonnie answered firmly and her aforementioned loving family stood behind her. Not just her girlfriends, but their parents, too.

“Great kid you let get away,” Kane remarked with a goofy grin as he shot the Rockwallers a thumbs-up.

“We’ll take good care of her,” James promised with a smile of his own. Maybe some of Kane’s insanity was rubbing off, but James would never stand for any family treating a child the way Bonnie’s family treated her… and for her whole life from what he could tell. They were awful people.

“And if the need arises for you to call her a freak again, please, let me know. I haven’t dropped an asshole in a few days now,” Isabel commented as she cracked her knuckles in one hand by simply making a fist.

“This isn’t over yet,” Connie vowed heatedly, pointing a threatening finger at her baby sister. She still sported the bruise from when Kim hit her because it was not too long ago; thank the Constitution for a right to a speedy trial.

Bonnie actually thought it would work against them for Connie to show up with a bruise on her face to the trial, but she would later find out that a few of the jurors actually wanted to hit her after she testified. Rockwallers were not the most endearing people no matter the circumstances. But, then again, Bonnie had banked on that.

Bonnie rolled her eyes to her sister’s threat. “What more can you do to me?” They could not hurt her anymore. They had not disowned her. She was divorcing them.

Bonnie left with her girlfriends and their parents, not even thinking of her siblings after they were out of sight. They went out to dinner to celebrate. A fight erupted between the Gos about who would pay when the check arrived. James solved the problem by paying for everything while Isabel had her elbow pressed into her husband’s throat and Shego was threatening her mother with a raised hand in a claw position.

“How old are they again?” Ann remarked with a laugh while nodding toward the Gos. 

“We hear they’re a lot worse when the boys are around,” Bonnie reported with a chuckle. Shego did not talk much about her brothers, but when she did, she illustrated that the Gos were pure insanity when they were all together.

“Hard to believe,” James muttered, shaking his head. 

“Thank you for doing such a good job, Bonnie,” the neurosurgeon said and she gave Bonnie a quick hug.

“Thank you, all of you, for supporting me and having so much faith in me,” Bonnie replied. 

“That’s what family does,” James commented and that brought a big smile to Bonnie’s face. She knew she was doing something right to have won him over.

Kim was also quite happy to see her father approving of Bonnie. Now, if only she could get him to approve of Shego. She glanced over at the former villainess to see she and her parents were still arguing over who was going to pay for the meal. Kim guessed it would take a little more time for that, but then again, she had to work on them liking her father. At least Kane liked him… not that Kane seemed to honestly dislike anyone. 

When dinner was done, everyone returned to their homes. The trio decided to keep up their celebration, so before going home, they went to pick up a few supplies. They took a hot bath together with some champagne to start things off with their celebration. 

“You’re amazing,” Shego whispered to Bonnie and then she gently kissed Bonnie’s ear. It was almost like a ghost of a kiss, leaving the lawyer wanting more, which was what Shego wanted.

“Completely amazing,” Kim concurred on the opposite side. She placed a wet kiss to Bonnie’s cheek.

“You’re too kind,” Bonnie remarked with false modesty. She smiled, knowing it was about to be her night to get complete and utter attention. She tingled with anticipation.

“Don’t even start with that,” Shego ordered, even though she thought it was cute when the tanned beauty pretended to be humble. Her hand trailed up and down Bonnie’s smooth, wet body, settling on drawing teasing circles around her bellybutton.

Bonnie was about to respond, but found her mouth occupied as Kim rushed in for a deep kiss. Bonnie eagerly returned the show of affection. Their mouths opened, their tongues dancing against each other, tasting each other, devouring each other.

Shego decided to get into the act and start some other activities with her mouth. Shego made her way midway down Bonnie’s body and attached her lips to a pink peak that looked a bit lonely to Shego. The sudden suction caused Bonnie to cry out into Kim’s mouth, so Kim got the idea that Shego was doing a good job. The redhead did not break that kiss, though.

Shego nibbled the fleshy mound in her grip while her other hand continued on making circles around Bonnie’s navel. She was tempted to go further down, but that would be rushing into things. She wanted to draw it out, so she kneaded and suckled on the breast that she had. Every few seconds, she switched, making sure each breast got equal attention.

Kim reached down to help Shego’s effort. She took the unoccupied mound in her hand and began to massage the flesh with the pressure one might use to mold heavy clay. She moved her fingers the center, pinching the erect bud found there. Bonnie cried out into her mouth again and then suddenly pulled away, needing air.

“I want to touch you two,” Bonnie whimpered. God, she wanted to touch them bad. As much as she liked being the center of attention, she liked exploring them just as much. She wanted them to know she appreciated them just as much as they did her.

“Nobody’s stopping you,” Shego pointed out before going back to her task, teasing the button with some light licks first. She then went back to the intense suction, earning a loud moan from the lawyer. 

Bonnie could not call her a liar on that one. She reached over with one hand to massage Shego’s chest as Kim was doing to her. She tested the weight of the part in her hand just for the hell of it and then she got to work. A light moan inched its way out of the pale woman’s mouth as Bonnie manipulated her breasts, switching back and forth to each, and making sure to put pressure on the centerpieces.

“Fuck,” Shego hissed, letting go of Bonnie just for a moment. As soon as she realized her mouth was empty, though, she was back on the lawyer.

Satisfied with Shego’s reaction to her touch, Bonnie moved a little to go back to kissing Kim. Their tongues seemed quite pleased to be reunited, going right back to caressing each other. Bonnie’s free hand went to Kim’s torso. Flesh was kneaded, rolled, and gripped with heavy passion. Moans filled the air accompanied by the sound of water swishing about.

Eventually, Kim and Bonnie broke apart, in need of air. Kim, ready first, moved to kiss Shego, until Bonnie was ready again. Shego received her with a moan, which was caused by Bonnie giving her a particularly hard pinch. Kim swallowed the sound.

Soon, they were all leaning on each other, touching each other, rubbing against each other. They were so hungry for each other, bordering on greedy, and they did not mind. Mouths went from one to the other, as well as various other body parts, kissing, licking, nibbling, suckling, and biting. Hands went from torsos to centers and worked as fervently there as they would anywhere else, exploring areas that they already knew so well, and it showed. Moans became pants and cries. Soon, the water was just background noise.

Shudders came from each body, shaking the water. Stirring the water did not seem to end because as soon as one stopped quivering, another began. Peach touched tanned, tanned touched whitish-green, and whitish-green touched peach, rubbing, grinding, seeking to share souls.

They remained there until the bath until water got cold. When they retreated into their bedroom, things only got hotter and heavier. They were thankful for another day to be together.

-*-(New day)-*-

The trio found out that the Rockwallers were not kidding when they said things were not over yet. The Rockwallers now planned to sue Kim. It seemed if they could not get their day in criminal court, they would take civil court.

“Oh, goddamn these people!” Shego groaned from the sofa when she got the news from Bonnie. She was sick of having to go into a courtroom. 

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of this one really quickly,” Bonnie promised.

The legal rottweiler went into court, explained the situation, and said Kim would pay for Connie’s doctor bills over her busted lip and missing tooth. The judge accepted that and that was that. The Rockwallers could not believe it.

The trio left the courtroom feeling victorious. Well two of them anyway. Shego was pissed with having to pay anything at all to them. Bonnie consoled her by pointing out that it was a necessary evil. With luck, they could put the Rockwallers behind them.

“Oh, right, before I forget,” Bonnie said and she turned around to face her ex-family. She felt nothing for them now, so she did not seem the point in referring to them as family. “Thank you guys for all of this. I got to show I am a legal rottweiler, so I’m getting a bigger office and more cases at work now.” She smiled sweetly at her family before walking off with her girlfriends. To make her day even more, she was pretty sure she would never have to see her family again.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: some Ron and Yori time and Kim goes to save a foe.


	17. Seeds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters.
> 
> Hmm… I don’t think I have anything to say at the beginning of this one. Shout out to everyone still reading this. Enjoy.

17: Seeds

Kim and Ron strolled through a park together on a rather nice day. It was lush area with plenty of trees and grassy places for picnics. There were some dogs running around in a meadow area. Ducks occupied a small pond where some young children fed the birds bread. The sky was a vibrant blue and the sun shone brightly that afternoon.

The best friends decided to get together rather spur-of-the-moment as they realized they had not done such a thing ever since Ron moved back to Middleton. They blamed Kim’s recent legal problems and Ron had to take care of Yori most of the time when she came home, not knowing what to do about Shego’s nutty students. They had time now to hang out since their usual lunch dates had other things to do. 

“Remember when those geese chased me in this park,” Ron said with his eyes on the ducks.

Kim snickered. “Those were some furiously angry geese, but I think Rufus stealing their bread is the reason they chased you.”

Brown eyes rolled as Ron scoffed. “I think they’re just mean animals.”

“Well, that too,” she agreed with a smile. 

“I can’t believe how much we’ve changed since the last time we were in this park together,” Ron commented while looking around, taking in the scenes around them. And, looking out for evil geese.

The last time that they walked through the park, they had been a couple and the biggest worry in their lives had been what was going to happen when they graduated. It had seemed like the scariest thing they would ever face back then. Now, in retrospect, it seemed silly to even worry about. Life was much more complicated now that they had graduated.

“Really. What were we doing, freaking out over going to different colleges and everything, right?” Kim asked with a light laugh.

Ron laughed, too, and rubbed the top of his head. “It was a little overwhelming. I mean, we’d been together every day of our lives, from pre-k up until that point. The idea of not being together… it was surreal.”

She nodded. “I know. It was so weird for a while.” Being without Ron was like being without her leg. She almost felt like she did not know how to walk for the first few weeks of college. Of course, she had pressed on, seemingly normal, but on the inside she had felt quite lame. He could understand that because he could definitely relate to the feeling.

“Yeah, but we grew up and, well, things are still weird,” he remarked with another laugh while turning to look at her. His chocolate eyes sparkled from his amusement, which cause her eyes to react with a similar shine. Weirdness just followed him and Kim around, even if they were not together. It was just their thing.

Turning her mouth up a little, Kim shook her head. “Not to me. I know to other people it might seem weird. I have two girlfriends and you have one girlfriend that gets hit on by my girlfriend’s students, but it doesn’t really seem weird to me.”

“I think that it’s because life’s always been weird for you and me, because it’s like you said, this doesn’t really seem that weird. We’re damn near calm now,” he realized, putting his hands in his pockets and focusing ahead of them.

“Yeah, we’ve found our niches. We should go find Mister Barkin and show him that you actually amounted to something and you’ve got a long term girlfriend,” she remarked with a smile.

Ron could not help snorting. “He’d probably just yell at me from jealousy,” he countered with an amused smile of his own.

A light chuckle escaped her. “And spite. Don’t forget that.”

“I should just go find him and rub it all in his face, but that’s pointless. I’m bigger than that, after all.” He gave a long shrug.

Kim scoffed and glanced at him. “Since when?” she asked with a chortle.

“Hey! I can be mature every now and then. Now, if only you could get Shego’s students to be that way, too,” he pretended to grumble. Now, he was a little offended about his girlfriend being harassed, but he knew if was really serious, Yori would do something about it. Hell, Kim would do something about it if it were really serious.

Despite the fact that Ron feigned like he was upset, Kim knew a little of it was quite real. After all, he would not bring it up rather out of the blue if it did not bug him. She was not surprised to hear him talk about it, though.

“That’s something you need to talk to Shego about. Her terrors only listen to her, especially the evil quartet that’s taken an interest in Yori,” Kim replied. Yori had to put up with the sexual harassment from students, just like Kim and Shego did, but there were also the four ne’er-do-wells who enjoyed pestering her especially.

“I guess it’s better them than the girls that are always hitting on Yori. She really doesn’t like that,” he commented with a slight frown. From his understanding, Yori took the quartet’s antics as mischievous, but the other students were something entirely different. She did not know what to make of it, how to take it, or how to stop it if saying no did nothing.

Kim frowned now. “She should’ve said something. All this time we thought she just let it roll off of her like we do.” Yori had not said anything about the harassment that was running rampant around their school, so the other two teachers assumed she was all right. Kim had been rather occupied lately, so she really did not have time to notice if her friend was silently suffering while trying to teach at the school.

“No, she doesn’t want to say anything because she’s the newcomer in the school and she doesn’t wanna rock the boat, but all the girls-hitting-on-her does bother her,” Ron pointed out.

“I’m glad you said something, Ron. I really thought she was just taking it and thinking nothing of it. That’s what me and Shego do all the time,” Kim explained with a slight shrug. She had to deal with Shego’s amorous students whenever she had to descend from her classes. Sometimes, they stuck around, waiting for Kim to come down for lunch and things like that. She ignored them for the most part and they seemed like they were just playing around now. Yori had a different take on it, though.

“Yori’s not really used to it like you guys. Plus, you have to remember that Yori’s not as social as you and Shego. She’s new to society, really,” he said.

She nodded. “You’re right, you know? I didn’t think about that. Yori’s used to schools working like Yamanouchi. Oh, man, I hope she doesn’t think this is how schools are here.” 

“No, I had to tell her this isn’t normal behavior, but she didn’t really think it was. She just wanted confirmation.”

“That’s good. I don’t want her to think that’s normal or think she has to be uncomfortable at the school.” 

“You think you could talk to her some? I try, but she’s still not too sure how to take the come-ons and everything,” Ron requested with a charmingly small smile. 

“I’ll talk to her. The students don’t really mean any harm,” Kim tried to assure him, knowing Ron had a little jealous streak inside of him, which came from old insecurities. But, then again, a little jealousy might be healthy. She and her girlfriends certainly had jealousies and they were not insecure at all.

“They don’t mean any harm? Some of the things they say to Yori should get them sent to jail,” Ron stated strongly. Sexual harassment did not begin to cover things in his opinion. Of course, his opinion was formed from tales told by Yori, who could hardly bring herself to repeat some of the things said to her. He always thought the worse when she blushed, looked away in embarrassment, and could not finish telling him what happened.

“Those things are pretty tame compared to what they say to me and Shego, but if it’s such a big deal, I’ll have a meeting with the students. Don’t worry about it.” She flashed him an award-winning smile. She did not want Yori to feel uncomfortable. The school was supposed to be like a second home for everyone.

Ron sighed, his shoulders slumping a bit, and then he smiled. “Thanks, K.P.” 

“No problem. What’re friends for, after all?” she pointed out.

“Right. So, when do you have to get back to the school, anyway?” he asked curiously.

It was a workday for both of them. He was not with Yori because she had some paperwork to catch up on. Kim was on her own because Shego had “business” to take care of and Bonnie was swamped with cases for the first time in a long time; the work brought a grin to the lawyer’s lovely face. 

“I’ve got two hours for lunch, so I’m all yours,” Kim replied with a grin.

“I think our girlfriends would have something to say about that,” he remarked and she laughed.

-8-8-8-8-

“Shego, what the hell?” was all the aforementioned woman’s lawyer could ask. Charlie Darrow stared at his client with tired eyes from across his desk. Really, if he did not know her parents so well, he would wonder how the hell she managed to get into all of the trouble that she did. But, considering who her parents were, he would find it more unbelievable if she lived a quiet, normal life.

“What do you mean ‘what the hell’? That should be my question, because what the hell is that guy doing looking at my Duchess’ ass like that? I’d hate to think what else he’s been doing to her considering the way she wouldn’t even talk about it when I brought him up,” Shego huffed, folding her arms tightly across her chest. 

Bonnie looked at her like she had three heads when she brought up Lyle and the how she caught him checking out her Duchess’ ass. Bonnie then stumbled through excuses about Lyle, which definitely was not good enough for Shego. She guessed Bonnie did not want to create waves and rock the boat while still being disliked a bit at her job. Well, to hell with that!

Shego could create as many waves as she wanted and she had no problem with doing that. Besides, Bonnie had proven she was a valuable member of the team now and she deserved to be treated as such. If she was not, well, then that would be the next cause Shego took up and she would get her parents to add in if necessary. 

“She hasn’t said anything about Lyle harassing her, so that just leaves what you did to him,” Charlie pointed out calmly, sitting back in his chair to keep a relaxed front. The only way to deal with a Go was to stay calm, after all. Once one gave into arguing, the battle was already lost, unless the person arguing happened to be named Bonnie.

“So? What does he want, an apology?” she scoffed, rolling her eyes. _Fuck that!_ She would not even give him that much. In fact, the only thing she was willing to grant him was a boot in the ass if he ever looked at her Duchess like a piece of meat again.

“Of course I’ve talked the dodgy little bastard out of pressing charges, but now we have to walk softly around him because of this.”

She scowled. “You know what, fuck him. You walk around him however the hell you want to for whatever reason. He wants a piece of me, then tell him to see me outside.” She jabbed her thumb toward the door. “He wants a piece of my money, tell him to see me in court and if you’re too scared just because he’s an employee of yours and this looks bad for you little firm, fuck you, too,” she stated bluntly.

Like hell she was going to let some little bastard push her around and take advantage of her Duchess. She was not going to let anyone walk all over her or her girlfriends anymore. She was sick of all of the bullshit she and her girls had to put up with. What the hell would it take for five minutes of fucking peace just to enjoy being together with her Duchess and Princess?

“It’s not that simple—” the high-priced attorney tried to say, but he did not even make it that far. He was not even sure what possessed him to try to reason with her. The Go women were the worst when it came to debating, so why did he bother? He was not sure.

“Look,” Shego paused to point at him for the rest of her statement. “Do whatever the fuck you need to do. I don’t really give a fuck, but if I see him looking at _my_ girl like that, I’m just going to kick his ass again. I don’t give a damn if you want to deal with it or not. You’re not the only lawyer on the planet.”

Charlie arched an eyebrow to that challenge and dared to bait her further. “Oh, you think Miss Rockwaller would be able to get you out of so many legal problems?”

Shego laughed before her face settled into a callous smirk. “Really, Charlie-boy, you surprise me. You think you’re hot shit. I’ve got a long list full of guys that could replace you. I think my father uses you mostly for sentimental reasons,” she remarked, evil delight dancing in her jade eyes. 

Charlie frowned; how he hated that Go vindictiveness. How easily they all could snap with the ragged bite of a shark to get their way. He often wondered why they were not lawyers themselves.

“Well, I’ve got stuff to do. You go ahead and think about what you’re going to do and you let me know,” Shego said in almost a friendly tone.

Shego tore herself from her chair and exited the office. She did not care what Charlie was going on about. She did not care about how the situation affected him or his firm. If he could not fix things, then it was like she said: she had a list of guys that could replace him. Sure, he was a great lawyer and easily got her out of trouble, as well as getting her mother and younger brothers out of trouble, but there were other people on the planet that could do that.

The former villainess ignored the few stares that came her way as she walked through the hall of the firm. She made a beeline right for a certain office and when she was inside, she locked the door. She smirked like the cat that ate the canary… or planned to eat the canary.

“Duchess,” Shego pretty much cooed to draw attention to herself.

Bonnie looked up from her desk, where there was an open book and a stack of papers. She did not look quite as happy to see Shego as the pale woman would have liked, barely even giving Shego a smile. It seemed that Bonnie knew the nature of her visit. Shego would not help wondering if she was so transparent when it came to her girlfriends. Probably, but she really did not care.

Shego looked around and gave an approving nod. “This office is much better than the other one.”

Not that it took much effort to be better than Bonnie’s previous office. The new one was actually quite decent. More than two people could fit in it without someone almost falling out of the room. The floor was carpeted and she could comfortably fit a sofa along with a coffee table in it. There were two bookshelves on the wall opposite the sofa, which were already full of books. The desk was neat and orderly, as expected of Bonnie. Shego had other plans for it, though.

“Shego,” Bonnie started, but she stopped herself before going into a reprimand. She was not sure what she might actually be scolding Shego over. The first option was that Shego showed up with the hopes of talking her into having sex in the office, which had been something the older woman pushed for since Bonnie got the new office. The second option was that Shego showed up to pester her about the business with Lyle again. But, then again, the second option did not explain why the door needed to be locked.

“You’re not getting away this time, Duchess,” Shego commented with a devilish smirk. This was going on the fifth time she tried to have her way with Bonnie in this new office. It was a bit frustrating that she was not getting her way. She was supposed to always get her way.

The troublemaker marched over to Bonnie like a woman on a mission. The lawyer made it a point to look disinterested and had the nerve to turn her head when Shego went to kiss her. The action brought a frown to the pale woman’s face and she was tempted to grab Bonnie by her chin, but she knew that would not help her cause.

Shego suddenly smirked. “You might resist me now, but eventually you’re going to give in, just like Kimmie did when she swore up and down we’d never have sex in the school,” she commented smugly, folding her arms across her chest. She did not see why they resisted her.

“What’s with you and wanting to do it where people will hear or see us, but not entirely know what the hell we’re doing?” Bonnie inquired with a frown that scrunched up her face. It was an interesting fetish, she supposed. Hell, it was fun sometimes when they were bored, but it was also annoying at times… usually, times where she could get into serious trouble. 

“It’s because I want people to think about who you belong to, Duchess. I want people to know I claim you, just like you want people to know you claim me and Princess.”

“Haven’t you ever heard of holding hands? I mean, damn, I can’t afford to fuck around with you in here. Try to understand, love. If I could get away with it, I would fuck you silly in here, but I don’t think I can get away with it. Plus, I’m swamped with work. Why can’t you be considerate of that?” Bonnie asked, expression half-pleading and half-upset.

Shego paused for a moment and her forehead wrinkled as she began to think. She supposed this would be one thing she did not understand with her girlfriends, mostly because she never had to do honest work in all of her life, up until now with her teaching martial arts. So, she did not get that acting out in a work area had serious consequences. She sighed. 

“You win this round, Duchess, but the war continues,” Shego promised with a teasing smirk.

“Just wave the white flag already, babe. You know the legal rottweiler always wins,” Bonnie remarked with an expression mirroring her girlfriend’s. 

Shego continued to smirk because of Bonnie’s expression. Her girlfriends, both of them, were so incredibly sexy. She especially liked when they gave her devilish expressions. They both did it so well, even though Kim liked to pretend she had no idea what she was doing.

Shego could not help leaning in for a short kiss, which Bonnie happily gave her. Shego made a point to not try for more than Bonnie was willing to give, which brought a cute smile to Bonnie’s face. Those expressions were just as good as evil expressions to Shego.

“I’ll just have my way with you at home. You and Kimmie,” Shego quipped with another smirk. In fact, she would make plans for that as soon as she left. It would glorious.

“Maybe I’ll have my way with you and Kimmie instead,” Bonnie countered with a similar expression.

Rolling her eyes, Shego snorted and waved the words off with a flick of her wrist. “Oh, please, you’re Kimmie’s bitch. You’d never have your way with her.” 

“You’re just jealous,” Bonnie retorted, sticking her tongue out at the end of her statement.

“Hey, don’t point that thing at me if you don’t want naughty things to happen.”

Bonnie chuckled a bit, her eyes actually lighting up a little from her amusement. “You make a point. Don’t you have to get going? You’ll be late for your class if you don’t leave soon,” she pointed out when she noticed the time; there was a small clock on her desk that she suspected Shego stole sometime ago from an upscale shop. She never asked about where her lover got the lovely crystal timepiece because Kim never said anything about it. It was also entirely plausible for Shego to have brought the thing with her vast fortune.

“You’re right. But, at least Kimmie’s there to keep my little bastards away from Yori,” Shego commented, more to herself than to her girlfriend. _Damn it, they’re out of control and freaking annoying._ She would break some skulls if those rotten eggs, especially her super-bad foursome, started bugging the ninjutsu instructor again, especially after she had spoken with them about bothering Yori. She did not think her students bothered Yori as much as they were trying to, but they just did not have any business trying to torment a teacher. 

“How is Yori working out? You don’t really talk much about her being there, and I know you didn’t really want her at the school.”

Shego shrugged. “She’s really quiet, keeps to herself.” She had not interacted much with Yori, even though she had been at the school for a while.

Bonnie nodded. “Yes, she’s been like her the few times I met her, too.”

“Yeah, but I would guess it’s because she’s from that stupid ninja school. If she’s been there all her life like some of those students have, I can see why she’s a little introverted.” 

“She was at her school all of her life?” 

Shego shrugged. “It’s possible. Many of the students are orphans or just kids left there by their parents hoping for them to become lethal weapons. It’s enough to make a kid antisocial.”

“Seems that way. But, how is she with you and Kimmie?” 

“She’s a good teacher. The few students we share speak highly of her and they’ve shown me some of the things she’s taught them. I’ve seen her move every now and then walking by her class. She clearly knows what she’s doing and her students seem to like her. So, it’s cool that Princess hired her and everything,” Shego replied as it was nothing, like she really had little opinion of things, even though she meant her words.

“It’s good that you agree with it.”

Shego just nodded and decided it was time for her to get going. She leaned down to give Bonnie a goodbye kiss, which was returned. The show of affection was brief and seconds later, Bonnie was alone again with her work. 

-8-8-8-8- 

Kim waited by Yori’s office while the ninjutsu teacher spent a few spare moments with Ron, who had walked with Kim back to the school. She looked into Yori’s office. It reminded her of her own, which was upstairs. They were rather large rooms, probably more space than they needed. Yori’s office was tidy, as expected.

Kim knew a little secret about Yori, though. The ninja actually just stuffed everything in her desk to give the image of order. Yori thrived on chaos. Shego referred to it as being “differently organized” since she was the same way. Of course, it drove Kim crazy because she was “properly organized.”

“Later, sweetie,” Ron said, signaling the conversation was wrapping up. He and Yori shared a tender, but brief kiss before he took his leave. He made sure to wave to his best friend before he was out of sight. Yori turned to go back toward her office. 

“You ready for our next load of psychos?” Kim asked with a brilliant smile.

“I do not think they are so psycho,” Yori commented in her usual calm manner.

Kim nodded a bit. Yori had a little language barrier where she did not get sarcasm much or exaggerations. But, there was a little more to it than that as to why Yori did not think her students were psychos. 

Kim noticed their students all seemed to take on little aspects of their personalities, which explained why almost all of Shego’s students acted out. Yori’s students were the calmer ones out of the bunch. Kim’s students tended to be hyper, which she always tried to chalk up to them being little kids, but their dedication and near-obsession with being perfect was a little too Kim-like for her to completely explain away.

“Well, some of them aren’t,” Kim conceded with a slight shrug. “So, did you make it through all of that paperwork?” she asked as she followed Yori into the office with her eyes. She remained standing in the doorway.

“I made it through some, yes. Honestly, I do not understand how you and Shego-san make it through it so easily,” Yori replied as she ran her fingers through her hair, pushing it out of her face. She was not wearing her almost trademark headband, preferring to tie her hair back for classes. The only thing was that she had not tied her hair back yet, so it was hanging freely, going wherever it pleased, especially in her face. It was a good thing Shego’s students were not around to see this because Yori looked very cute. 

“First off, Yori, I told you call her Shego. You keep using honorifics on her name and it’ll go right to her head. Do you want Shego walking around here with a bigger ego? We won’t be able to fit in the damn building,” the redhead quipped, earning a chuckle from Yori.

Sighing, Yori bowed her head for a moment. “I apologize. It is just that I do not know Shego-san so well yet. It is force of habit. I shall try to be more informal.”

“Good. I want you to be comfortable around her and not act like she’s your boss or something because she’s not. I want you both to be friends.” 

Yori nodded. “I will try.” She focused on some of her papers for a moment.

Kim smiled. “Good. Now, before all of our insane charges arrive, I wanted to talk to you about something.”

That caught Yori’s attention and she locked eyes with Kim, assuming a serious conversation was about to begin. “Yes?”

“Ron was telling me that you’re really uncomfortable with all of the… attention from some of our more ‘friendly’ students,” Kim said. “Friendly” was their euphemism for their loose-lipped, inappropriately affectionate students.

Yori looked away and tried to force a blush from forming. Usually, she was the poster child for emotional control, but the scarlet tint won out as it invaded her tanned cheeks. She had to take a moment before she could fight the red stain off and face her friend with the proper confidence that a ninja should, in her opinion. 

“I… am… slightly uncomfortable,” Yori admitted, doing her best not to scrunch up her face as she spoke. She succeeded for the most part. “I just did not wish to…” she trailed off, unable to explain that she did not want to cause any waves. She was already so indebted to Kim and Shego for giving her a chance, so she did not want to complain about anything.

“Yori, we’re friends. Or at least I like to think we are. We are friends, right?” Kim asked, if only to be sure.

“Of course,” Yori answered with a strong nod.

“Okay. Then, you can talk to me if you don’t like the way the students are acting. Hell, even if we weren’t friends and I was just the person who owned the school, you should talk to me about the students. But, we’re friends, so you can talk to me about anything.” 

“I understand,” Yori said.

Kim went on like Yori did not even say anything. “You sit in here and don’t say anything, it just leaves me and Shego thinking that you’re not bothered by it and take it the same way we do. We don’t pay attention to it or, in Shego’s case, we blow the hell up about it to the point where we scare the students. You don’t have to put up with it if you don’t want to. We want you to be comfortable around here, not just me and Shego, but the students, too.”

Yori’s brow furrowed. “The sudents, too?” she echoed.

“They like you, which is one of the reasons they’re so friendly and I don’t mean that they like you in a romantic sense. Some of them act that way just because they think it’s acceptable behavior in the school. For a while it was because me and Shego didn’t care, but you’re here now and you don’t have to put up with it,” Kim insisted, putting a hand on the ninja’s shoulder to reassure. 

Yori nodded and was silent for a long moment, letting it all sink in hopefully. “Thank you for that, Kim. I was trying my best to stay out of your way and not disrupt the way that you run your school.”

“I know you were, but you’re part of the school now, too. A big part. We want you to be comfortable so you stay. We’re just a little tiny school, after all. We don’t want some bigger school to come and swing by and steal you right from under our noses,” Kim said with a grin.

The kunoichi (female ninja) chuckled a little. “I would never do such a thing. It is my honor to be here and be a part of this,” she vowed, putting her hand on Kim’s shoulder. She was thankful for what Kim had given her and she would not leave it over money or even more prestige at some other school.

“Never say never. The point is, Yori, this is your place, too, now. You don’t have to stand by and take things if you’re not comfortable with it. So, if the friendly behavior is getting to you, say something about it and we’ll do something about it,” Kim stated.

Yori took a couple of seconds to let silence pass between them. “Kim, the students’ _overly_ friendly behavior bothers me.” 

Kim nodded, taking in the distinction. The “overly friendly” behavior was more than likely the behavior that got Shego to scream at some of her fan-girls… and Kim’s fan-girls, which Kim liked to pretend she did not have. Yori also had fan-girls, but they typically were not as rabid as the other two teachers’. 

“I should just let Shego tear into them. They’re her students, after all,” Kim remarked with a small smile.

“That would be cruel,” Yori pointed out, smiling a bit herself despite her words.

“All the better. When she howls, they shut up and listen, especially since they don’t want to end up being used as an example on how to perform new techniques,” the redhead commented, her smile turning from amused to evil. One of the ways Shego kept discipline in her classes was to use the troublesome ones for demonstrations where she made sure they suffered humiliation and a little pain. Kim had a feeling she learned this from Isabel. 

Yori chuckled again and was unable to stop as her brain drummed up the image of Shego being an alpha wolf reprimanding her pups. The funny thing was that all of the students would say the teachers were equally stern once the lessons began, but there was just something about Shego and her ability to make ears bleed when she yelled that stuck to the students more than Yori’s silent shaming of students and Kim’s showing the students up with her ability when the students started getting full of themselves.

“So, Yori, we’re clear that this is pretty much your school, too?” Kim inquired, gripping the shoulder under her hand a little.

“Very much so,” Yori replied, bowing her head a bit to agree more than anything else.

“Good. Now, let’s wait for the She-wolf to show up and put these pups in their place,” the hero joked. Yori could not help laughing because that matched perfectly with her vision of Shego.

-8-8-8-8-

Shego frowned as she stood before the “chosen ones.” A dozen females, teenagers mostly, but a few adults that were almost her age were in there too, watched her with careful eyes. They were waiting for her, or their other two teachers, to talk.

Kim and Yori stood behind Shego. They were still, almost like statues with their eyes locked on the group. Shego was all tense movements, like a pacing tiger. Her lips were broken into a frown that pulled her eyebrows in and narrowed her gaze. Every now and then, she rolled her shoulders and a distinct, small _crack_ echoed through the quiet hall, and she swayed from side to side every few seconds, giving her hair a distracting and disarming metronome appearance.

The teachers were waiting for a moment and they knew it would come. The group before them could not help themselves, after all. Someone was going to give them what they wanted before a minute passed. They were certain of that. 

It barely took five seconds for eyes to fall from Shego’s gaze to the sway of her hair and hips. Ten seconds in, and all but three sets of eyes were watching Shego’s lower body rather than her eyes, which was where they were supposed to focus. Fifteen seconds in, mouths were slightly opened and lips were being licked.

The teachers almost wanted to laugh. The opening they had waited for had only took fifteen seconds. It was kind of sad, actually. 

“Em, where the hell are your eyes?” Shego said in a sharp tone. She wanted to bring attention back to where it was supposed to be, so now she could point out their horrible behavior.

“…Huh?” a female at the end of the line asked as she shook herself out of her stupor and turned her grey eyes to her teacher’s face. She was an athletic sixteen-year-old with light grey eyes and short black hair that she pulled into a tight ponytail. She was taller than Shego and rather lanky. She was one of Shego’s original students, who surprisingly had come in with no confidence, slouched more often than not, and mumbled when she talked. Now, she walked around standing tall and grabbing her teacher’s ass when Kim was not watching.

“Em, seriously, what the fuck is wrong with you and the rest of your merry band of under-sexed peers? Have you never seen a tit before? Because if that’s the case, I will strip right now and show you what they look like, so we can move the fuck on,” Shego stated, which arched a few eyebrows.

The girl, Em, whose actual name was Emily, was ready to take Shego up on that offer, quite a few of her fellow “under-sexed peers” were ready, too. But, they knew such a thing would come at a price… and they were not sure if they were ready, willing, or able to pay the price. They knew Shego charged way more than something was worth… although a lot of them would argue that a glimpse at her breasts would be priceless. 

“I don’t know what the hell is up with you all. You think this shit is cute when you go around feeling us up? Go get a fucking girlfriend or something, goddamn it. Look at the girl standing next to you. Her ass is just as gay and lonely as you are. Take her on a fucking date, go fuck like bunnies, and come to class to learn some goddamn fighting,” Shego ordered, snorting at the end like a charging bull.

Kim was loath to admit, but she thought that was a good idea and could not understand why none of the girls thought of that in the first place. It was a practical solution. Of course, there was the fact that some of the ladies did what they did just to be cute, so that might be why this never occurred to some of them.

The ladies all did look down the line at each other. Many of them knew each other, hung out together, and took a second to laugh because it never occurred to any of them to date each other. They turned back to look at Shego. 

“Um… but, Em doesn’t look as good as Possible looks, teacher,” the girl standing next to Em remarked. Her name was Staci and she was definitely a Kim fan-girl. She would follow Kim around like a lost puppy if only she did not love martial arts even more. She made it a point to volunteer to help the kids whenever Kim needed an assistant or a substitute if something came up.

Em scoffed and rolled her eyes. “You don’t look as good as the teacher does, either.” 

“Yeah, look, let’s face facts, the three best-looking people in this school are me, Kimmie, and Yori.” Shego pointed to each of them. 

There was some mumbles. They might have been agreements or something else. Shego glared at the group to get the noise to stop and it worked.

“Deal with it and stop grabbing our asses before one of us has to go crazy on you. I don’t think you guys actually realize how dangerous we are or how much restraint we show with you. Do you want to be the one that drives Yori to use forbidden ninja techniques on you? Do you realize how much of an asshole that makes you if you make Yori hurt you?” Shego inquired, looking down the line to make sure she locked eyes with each and every woman standing there. They all knew Yori was the sweetest, most docile person they might ever meet and it was a little overwhelming to think she might be forced to hurt one of them.

“But… Yori-sensei is so cute…” someone muttered; the statement came from the end of the line when Shego was facing the wrong way.

“Fine, be an asshole. If she kills you, believe it or not, I won’t give a fuck. One less idiot to worry about. I don’t get why you guys have to act like horny teenagers. And before one of you smart-asses point out that you are horny teenagers, I told you what to do about that. So, lemme close by saying this: next person I catch looking at or touching _my_ Kimmie will have my foot shoved so far up her ass, I’ll be able to tickle the roof of her mouth with my toes,” the former thief proclaimed.

The threat got results almost instantly – everyone in line stiffened and seemed to think on it. Eyes now focused on the floor. A few bodies were now fidgety, shoulders moving from side to side, fingers tapped against various body parts, feet tapped against the floor, and other nervous ticks. Kim and Yori stepped forward now that the students were thoroughly scolded.

“Guys, we’re running a school. We want to have as much fun as possible while doing it, but it is a school. You can’t keep acting this inappropriately, especially with the younger ones around. You’re the examples. They’re your fans. They want to be like you, so you have to show them the right way to do things,” Kim said in a patient, even tone. It was the truth. Her students looked up to Shego’s students and Yori’s students. 

“We all want to build a better school. Be sure to do your part and we can all achieve greatness,” Yori closed up the little meeting. Well, she was supposed to close it up. It would have been really nice to close on her anyway. 

“Now, get the hell out of here and don’t think I was joking about taking someone out of a date, you bunch of dykes,” Shego said, officially ending the meeting now.

Kim sighed and had to fight off the urge to shake her head. She did not want to show signs of disapproving of Shego when they were supposed to be presenting a united front against their “bad” students. Yori had to battle off a wince that wanted to come out. She always thought that “dyke” was such a harsh term, especially after finding out that her good friend Kim was a lesbian.

Shego seemed quite satisfied with everything if the evil smirk on her face meant anything. Once the students were gone, Kim gave her lover a long sideways glance, which did not go unnoticed. Shego turned to face the other two women and had the nerve to have her best innocent expression on her face.

“How can you even think to look like that after some of the things you just said?” Kim asked, even though she knew Shego was capable of that look for the simple fact that she did not give a damn. 

“I always say things like that,” Shego answered with a shrug.

Kim could not call her a liar on that one. “That doesn’t make it right.”

“Kimmie, Kimmie, Kimmie,” the eldest among them said while shaking her head. “Since when have I cared about doing _anything_ right?”

Kim just gave Shego a look. The former thief took a second to make a confused face before an almost predatory smirk appeared on her face. Yori was just happy that they kept their thoughts to themselves, even though she could guess what was going on with them from the odd twinkles in their eyes.

“But, anyway, Yori, you should be safe from our bigger pervs,” Shego said, turning to face the ninja. “I doubt they’ll change completely, but they’ll make a start of it. Hopefully, it’ll be enough for you.” 

“I’m sure it will be. Thank you, Shego-san.” Yori then bowed to the older woman, which caused Kim to shake her head. 

“Remember, it’s a cultural thing, Shego,” Kim reminded her girlfriend because she really thought that all of the respectful things that Yori did would go right to Shego’s already swelled head.

“Whatever,” Shego replied, a smirk still playing on her lips like a happy child.

The ladies went about their nightly ritual of cleaning up their classes, even though those were pretty much clean. Most of the times, the students straightened everything up before they left, but they could not do everything. Each teacher had their own pet peeves about certain things that the students just could not get right when straightening up, so they all had to go over things once the students were gone. When everything was set up perfectly, Yori left to go meet up with Ron, so they could walk home together. They did not own a car yet and refused rides from Kim because they liked the time alone.

“How was your day?” Yori asked while throwing her arms around Ron’s chest. She used to hate public displays like the one she was showing, but ever since Ron became hers, she could not help herself. He was the one person that her habitual control was lost for. She was glad for it because it meant that she could relax. He made it so she was comfortable and could relax.

“Insane as usual,” Ron answered, wrapping an arm casually around her waist. “People send things back to the kitchen for the dumbest reasons and they don’t even want to know what some of those chefs do to their food on the way back.” 

She looked thoughtful for a moment. “Does that not happen at every restaurant that you work in?”

“Well, yeah, but it’s still nasty. I can’t believe it most of the time. How were things with you?” he asked in a gentle tone, meeting her eyes.

“The same.”

“Those girls still bothering you?” 

Yori shook her head. She did not have to worry about the girls today. She also did not have to worry about Shego’s evil quartet of students because Shego came back to the school early enough to keep them under control. So, she pretty much had a good day. 

“I’m glad that’s passed… wait, has it passed?” Ron inquired with his eyebrows curled up a little. He knew if something stopped for one day that did not mean it stopped completely.

“I do not know yet. We shall find out soon,” Yori replied.

“I hope everything works out. I mean, I don’t wanna hafta go up there and start hitting girls,” he remarked with a forced smile. He feared that things might come to that if those girls continued to touch his girlfriend. 

Yori chuckled a bit. “We might have a student or two that you don’t want to hit.” There was a proud look in her dark eyes.

Ron gave her a sidelong glance. Was she trying to say that they had students that could take him? From the small smile on her face, he was willing to bet that was exactly what she was saying. 

“Come on, I’m the mystical monkey master,” Ron boasted, hitting himself in the chest and laughing a little bit. He did not sound nearly as confident saying it as most people would think he should.

“When you resume your training again, maybe I shall believe that,” Yori remarked, still smiling.

Ron chuckled some more. Sure, he had gone to Japan to train and everything, but he did not take it as seriously as he thought he would. He needed more patching up internally than training on his powers. He had a lot of emotional scars that he never realized until his emotional support was physically gone, namely, Kim was not around him anymore because she had gone off to college.

Yori took care of Ron’s inside… well, it was a work in progress and she was almost certain it would be until the day he died. Ron was a man with a lot of emotionally baggage. Between his parents sometime-indifference toward him for his whole life, to the fact that he took two lives when his mystical monkey powers manifested themselves at full-force, he had a lot to work through. He would say Yori was doing him a world of good. Being back in Middleton with Kim and his sister was helping immensely, too. So, maybe his healing would not take a lifetime. 

Beyond him, Ron gave Yori an emotional support she never realized she needed until he came around. She had grown up in a very different world compared to him and had no known so many things until he came into her life. Now, she would not know what to do without him, but she never worried about having to find out.

“Are your students really that good?” Ron asked curiously.

“I will let you be the judge. When we finally get organized enough, we have talked about holding sparring matches and maybe even a tournament, so you can see what type of students we have. I am glad that Kim and Shego shared this experience with me. I never would have thought there were such talented and enthusiastic martial artists right here in your hometown… but, then again, you and Kim come from here,” she replied with a soft smile.

“Middleton, home of everything you never thought existed,” he remarked with an amused grin. She could not help laughing. As far as she could tell, he was right about that. 

-8-8-8-8-

Kim yawned and stretched from her space on the sofa, which was her resting on top of Shego and Bonnie lying on top of Kim. They were watching a movie on their large television… Well, they were supposed to be watching it. The movie was boring, but the remote was too far away for them to change the channel.

Bonnie was already sleeping, her head tucked underneath Kim’s chin. She had a hand that was buried in Kim’s camisole, but it was not doing anything except resting humbly against Kim’s ribs. Her light breath brushed across Kim’s skin like a loving caress.

“As much as she likes all the work, I think it’s getting to her,” Kim commented, glancing down at the dozing lawyer and gently petting her shoulder. 

“Leave the demon child be. She’s happy with everything and I doubt you’re gonna complain that she’s sleeping on you,” Shego pointed out as she brought a hand up to move some of Bonnie’s hair out of her face.

“No more than I would if you were sleeping on me,” the redhead replied. 

“Please, you’d bitch at me about crushing you or some shit like that,” Shego quipped with a half-smile.

Kim laughed a bit, even though she doubted she would do that, not until Shego woke up anyway. Their conversation was cut short as the Kimmunicator went off. Shego sucked her teeth, hating that tune and not for the musical notes it played either. 

“Pass me that, love,” Kim requested.

Shego frowned as she felt around on the floor for the interrupting device. It was always close by, even when it was not attached to Kim’s wrist. She discovered the Kimmunicator was almost under the sofa. She swiped it up and handed it to Kim, who carefully took it from her. She did not want to move too much or she might wake Bonnie up. 

“Thanks, honey,” Kim said and then she answered the Kimmunicator. “What’s the sitch?”

“Hey, Kim,” Wade greeted her. “You up for a mission?” 

“Of course,” the hero replied. What kind of question was that, anyway?

“Good. There’s been a break in at a robotics lab.” 

“Sounds easy enough. I’m there. You got a ride for me?” Kim asked. How she missed her old car that her brothers made for her. She figured she would pester them to “trick out” another automobile for her… and maybe her girlfriends, too, just in case. They could not be too careful nowadays. 

“Of course I got a ride. So, get some mission clothes on and get moving,” Wade remarked.

It was then that Kim realized Wade was pretty much seeing her in her underwear. She quickly disconnected the call before Shego realized the same thing. Shego did not say anything about the “clothes” comment, but then again, she did not say anything at all. 

“I’m sorry, babe,” Kim said, knowing the silence was disapproval of her leaving.

Snorting, Shego waved it off. “Don’t be sorry. You’re Kim Possible and this is what you do. I know that, Pumpkin. So, just be careful with the Duchess and don’t wake her up.” She would never begrudge Kim running off to do what she did. She would miss her, yes, but it was who Kim was, who she fell in love with. 

“I know.”

Kim detached herself from her position with practiced caution. The way she moved away made Shego consider her girlfriend might actually not have any bones, and other aspects of the relationship backed the theory in Shego’s opinion. The hero made sure Bonnie was comfortably on Shego before she ran off to on her mission clothes.

Shego had to reposition Bonnie on her, but Bonnie remained knocked out. Her hand sneaked into Shego’s loose sleeveless t-shirt and ended up against her ribs. Shego brought her hands around Bonnie and caressed her lower back. 

“I don’t get why you’re so happy to be exhausted,” Shego commented in a whisper. She would never understand someone pleased to be worked to death, even if she did love her job.

She did not say much because Kim charged back out, gave them both a kiss goodbye, and was gone in a flash. Shego settled herself on the sofa again and tried to remember what she was doing before everything happened. She turned to the television and saw that horrible movie was still on.

Shego groaned. “I should’ve told Kim to pass me the remote!” 

-8-8-8-8-

Kim made her way into the dark lab. She was surprised that she did not hear any noises coming from within the place. She wondered for a moment if she missed the thief, but then she caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of her eye. She swung around on her heel to face that side, but she did not see anything.

“Kimmie!” a familiar voice cried and next thing Kim felt a weight hit her from behind. The hero was on the floor in less than a second. 

“Why do I get the feeling I know you?” Kim wondered aloud as she felt something rubbing up and down against her shoulder. The motions were accompanied by content purring sounds.

“I missed you!” Cali declared in her almost annoyingly chipper voice. 

Kim groaned. What the hell did this cat-thing what from her? She moved her arms and pressed her palms to the cold, tiled floor to push herself up. She was surprised to find that Cali let her do that. She was not allowed to climb to her feet, though. Cali hit her again when she was turned around.

The globetrotter yelped when the cat-girl attached her arms around Kim’s waist. Cali buried her head in Kim’s breasts and purred. For a moment, Kim was outraged, like all the other times such things happened, but then she noticed the way Cali’s tail was swaying and the happy purring sounds coming from the cat-girl. It was like Cali was a kitten that just wanted to be cuddled, she noted. _Maybe I can use this_. 

“What’re you doing here?” Kim asked in a calm tone as she brought her hand up to scratch Cali’s right ear. The cat-girl practically melted into her from that action. 

“Looking for a part…” Cali answered honestly in between loud purrs.

“Why?” Kim inquired, believing she had just found her ultimate weapon against the cat-girl. 

“He told me to…”

“Professor Dementor?” Kim guessed. She knew from their first few encounters that Cali worked with the short, shouting mad scientist. It was a rare time to see Cali on her own actually.

“Uh-huh.” Cali nodded into the hero’s chest. Tears were gathering in her closed eyes thanks to the petting Kim gave her. It felt so good to have someone caressing her, petting her, showing her some affection. 

“Why?”

Cali sighed contently. “Didn’t say…” 

“And you don’t ask?”

Cali whined a bit; all of the questions were distracting from the petting. “He would yell…” she explained with a pout. It hurt her ears. 

“He does like yelling a lot. So, you don’t know what he’s working on?” Kim asked, still speaking in a gentle tone.

Cali just shook her head. She did not want to talk anymore. She just wanted to hold Kim and enjoy the attention while she was getting it. 

“I wish you brought milk and tuna like before,” Cali commented before the hero could get out another question.

“Before?” Kim echoed. “I didn’t have milk or tuna the last time I saw you,” she pointed out, even though that statement from the cat-girl led her to believe she was dealing with a creature that was definitely more cat than anything else. 

“Before, you did. It was good…” Cali sighed as if she was reliving some divine dream. A purr followed the sigh. She sounded like quite the happy kitty. 

Kim looked down at the cat-girl curiously, thinking maybe she was just confused or wishing aloud. Cali did not seem to notice and just continued grin merrily while Kim’s fingers continued to work on her ear. _Something just isn’t right about this whole situation, beyond the whole cat-girl thing_ , Kim thought. And suddenly, Cali jumped up, out of Kim’s grip.

“I gotta get back there or he’ll never shut up about it!” the cat-girl realized and she made her way to an open window to leave.

“Hey, wait a second!” Kim called as she pushed herself off of the floor to follow the retreating feline.

“Hope to see you later!” Cali actually grinned and waved before leaping out of the window. 

Kim easily followed, jumping out of the window without thought or hesitation. By the time she was in the air, Cali had already landed in a tree and used the branch to push off, lunging for another platform, which happened to be the side of a building. Kim had to unleash her grappling hook to keep up with Cali, bypassing the tree and going for a flagpole jutting out of the building across from the lab. Cali easily pushed herself off the building and grabbed for a lamppost. Kim followed suit with a grace that impressed the feline in front of her.

Cali was happy Kim chased after her, but she knew it would not be a good thing for the little hero to follow her home. She worked her powerful cat muscles as best she could to move faster and she also purposely broke each rail that she landed on. Eventually, Kim ran out of road, so to speak, which was fine because by then all she could do was see a dot that in darkness that was Cali.

“What the hell is her deal?” Kim wondered with her brow wrinkled in thought. She just could not figure Cali out and she doubted she ever would. “Well, at least she didn’t take whatever she was looking for.” Or at least, Kim did not think that she took it. There were not too many places to hide robotic parts on that little one-piece unitard she wore anyway.

Besides, if Cali did take anything, Kim was certain she would hear about it later on. Dementor would use it from some outrageous scheme and Kim could just stop him then. So, back home with her.

-8-8-8-8-

Cali did not realize she had not gotten her paws on the desired item until she got back to the lair… well, the house really. Dementor’s lairs were always so homey, she had noted a while ago. Although they never really felt like home to her, but she supposed that was the life of a stray. 

The cat-girl was in a good mood when she came in through the little cat flap on the front door. Yes, there was a cat flap and she was expected to use it. She was in her complete feline form. Dementor had told her time and time again that she should be in her cat form for a number of different reasons. She did not often listen to his rants, but she was much more comfortable as a cat than in her humanoid form.

She meowed and stretched once she was inside of the warm castle. Why he had it set up on top of a freezing mountain was beyond her. The cold air had almost robbed her of the wonderful sensation of being near Kim, but her skin and fur remembered that way too well to let Jack Frost have her delightful memories.

“Kimmie…” Cali purred in delight. She could not wait to be in Kimmie’s arms again, even if it was only for a few minutes, it was always worth it.

“Is that you, Cali?” Dementor demanded from upstairs. He now made sure to address her by that name, even though he had no clue where she picked it up. Before her outburst, as far as he knew, she was a nameless kitten, lucky that he came along, in his opinion anyway.

She did not answer. The sound of his voice reminded her that she was supposed to fetch him some robotic doohickey. She had forgotten it, though. Her ears stung already as she saw his shadow moving in the distance, signaling he was coming to see if it was her. He actually knew it was because of the silent alarm he put on the cat flap to let him know when it was being used. She was the only small, furry creature strong enough to open that flap, so he knew it was not some stray rabbit or something like that.

Cali shrank back when he came into view. He looked quite neutral until he saw that she was empty-handed… uh, empty-pawed. A frown quickly took over his face. She swallowed and her stomach flipped. 

“Where’s the AI component I sent you out for?” he demanded, his frown deepening already. Cali shrugged her little shoulders and he growled. “Speak, damn you!”

Cali changed into her human form. “Uh… forgot it?” she replied while backing up a little more. She was vaguely aware that she was backing up into a wall, which was not too far away. 

“You stupid, flea-bitten wretch!” he hollered while chucking the nearest object at her, which happened to be his helmet. He wished he had something heavier to bash her with for being a useless, rodent-eating, whelp.

Cali hissed slightly and changed back into her cat form. The helmet barely missed her. The object clanged loudly as it bashed against the wall behind her. She kept her eyes locked on Dementor, in case he decided to throw something else. She arched her back, front paws ahead, and back paws planted, almost as if she planned to pounce on him.

“You idiotic waste of damn space! You can’t even do a simple assignment without me having to go and hold your hand through it! What do I even keep you around for? I should’ve just thrown you away like that fat woman did with you! I should’ve left you to die like she wanted! Why didn’t you get what I wanted?” he shrieked at the top of his lungs, turning bright red from all of the screaming. Spit flew from his mouth every few words while he made a fist to shake at her.

Cali was quiet while backing up a little more, even though she was against the wall. Her yellow eyes drifted off to the side. She almost hissed in anger as he dared to bring up “the fat woman” and how she was thrown away. Tension wrapped in her shoulders and her ears flattened out. Despite it all, the main thought in her head concerned how she would respond to his question.

She knew she could not tell him Kim Possible had shown up and she decided cuddling was more important than whatever he wanted. As she thought about it, the feeling crept across her skin again and she had to swallow down a pleasant purr. She shuddered, but was taken from her memories by his loud mouth. 

“Well, don’t you have anything to say for yourself, you worthless piece of flesh? I asked you to do one simple thing and you’re too stupid to even do that! That’s why you got thrown out the first time! You’re nothing! You’re a waste of flesh! You worthless, useless, rotting beast! You… you… you…!” He went into his pocket and threw the first thing that he could get his hand on at her, which happened to be a pen.

The pen missed badly. His words, on the other hand, were hitting a mark he assumed existed, but was not too sure about considering how nonchalant Cali often was. The wonderful feeling that had once been inside of her was replaced by the vile and disgust that came from knowing how right he was. She was nothing and that was why she had been so easily cast aside before, she thought. Both alphas had confirmed her worthlessness, her uselessness, and cast her out. But, she did have much time to be sorrowful because he was still going on. 

“Damnable useless beast!” Another pen flew as more spit exited his mouth.

Cali had to dodge that object. She snarled as the pen whizzed by her cheek. Her ears moved, standing up now. Her shoulders tensed more, even though she flinched a bit as he pretended like he was going to throw something else at her.

“You worthless monster!” 

Her heart clenched to hear that insult directed toward her. Dementor was now so outraged he could not think of another insult and he hardly paid attention to her body language. He now planned to just step on Cali since she was down there and vent all of his frustrations with the seemingly stupid creature that was his subordinate. Another snarl tugged at the cat’s mouth as she saw the foot coming down on her and she flashed her teeth at him. He ignored the warning. She acted on instinct. 

The cat leaped up, flames covering her for a moment as she transformed into her human form. Her paw reeled back and snapped forward by the time she was at Dementor. She hit him in the side of the head with her large paw, knocking him across the room. He crashed into a statue, which fell to the side and shattered on the floor. Dementor lay as limp as the pieces of the broken art.

“Uh-oh…” she muttered as her ears flattened out on her head again.

Cali rushed over to Dementor and saw blood coming from the side of his head. She sniffed at the deep crimson liquid to make sure it was blood and found that to be exactly what it was. Her expression fell hard and fast enough to shatter the floor beneath her. Her yellow eyes darted all about, trying to figure out what to do next.

“Uh…” She sniffed him. He did not smell dead. But, how long did it take dead things to smell dead? He was motionless like dead things. “No, no, no. Killing is bad! So bad! Bad!”

Cali ran her paws through her hair and tried to think, but nothing was coming to mind. She ran for her cat door, so panicked that she forgot to change back into her cat form to get through it. It was not until her shoulders stopped her from getting out did she recall that she needed to be smaller to make it through the cat flap.

“What am I going to do?” Cali screamed.

-8-8-8-8- 

Kim yawned as she finally made it back home. She took a quick shower and crawled into bed with Shego and Bonnie. She tried not to wake them up, which was not something she had figured out how to do yet. She could untangle herself from the couch with them easily, but the bed was another matter.

“Hey, baby,” Bonnie mumbled into the dark as Kim tried to situate herself on the end of the bed. Bonnie wrapped her arms around the petite hero. 

“Hey,” Kim replied in a low tone.

“World saved again?” Shego grumbled as she moved in closer to the two. Her leg came across Bonnie to hook onto Kim. 

“Something like that,” Kim answered. “Now, go back to sleep.”

Shego did not hesitate to follow that order. Bonnie kissed behind Kim’s ear before going back to sleep too. Kim was out just as quickly as they were.

-*-(Next day)-*-

“Kim, I am going to lunch,” Yori reported, poking her head into the redhead’s office.

“Okay, tell Ron I said hey,” Kim replied, glancing up to see the ninja. She had paperwork to do, which was really just to keep her busy.

“All right.”

Yori exited the building to join Ron for lunch. She had had a pleasant morning. There was no groping all day. She knew that had to do with the little conference from yesterday and she was interested to see how long their perverted students kept their hands to themselves.

Kim was alone in the building. Shego was back at her lawyer’s firm “handling business,” as she put it. Kim just hoped the handling did not involve any plasma, but she figured that was a lot to hope for. She guessed things could not be too bad since Bonnie had not said anything about it. Bonnie was always ready to hop down their throats when they got into trouble, after all.

The redhead decided to get some work done since her lovers were busy and her best friend was out with his girlfriend. She checked over some paperwork she had and checked the progress reports she had for a few of her students. She did not get too deep into that because a noise from downstairs distracted her.

Kim got up from her seat and went to go investigate. She knew Yori locked up when she left because they always locked up during lunch. She thought maybe a student stuck around to get some practice in, which was not unheard of, even though she usually would be told someone else was in the building with her. She made it to the foot of the stairs before finding out just what the noise was. 

“You!” Kim gasped as her eyes fell on the worn out form of Cali, who was panting on all fours at the front door.

“Kimmie…” Cali whispered and then she shot over to the hero, forgetting her exhaustion as soon as she caught sight of the adventurer. She wrapped her powerful arms around Kim’s stomach and hid her face in Kim’s shoulder. “I finally found you!”

“Found me?” Kim echoed with an arched eyebrow. She tried to move her arms, which Cali had pinned to her sides. 

“He’s not moving! And I didn’t mean to do it, but he’s not moving! And the blood came out and I didn’t mean it! And he’s not moving and he’s gonna be so mad when he gets up! But, he hasn’t gotten up yet and I didn’t mean it! I didn’t!” she sobbed into Kim’s shoulder.

Kim tensed as she realized what the cat-girl was trying to tell her. “Calm down, calm down,” she said in a gentle tone, managing to free her arms. She embraced Cali with the hope that it would help. 

“I didn’t mean it!”

“It’s okay. I’m sure he’s fine.” 

“He was bleeding! And I think I hit him really hard! He wouldn’t shut up and he kept screaming at me and I didn’t mean it! I just wanted him to stop!”

“Hey, hey,” Kim said as if she was comforting a child. “Look at me,” she ordered in a tender tone. Cali obeyed, golden eyes meeting dark olive. “It’ll be okay,” Kim promised.

“But… I hit the alpha…” Cali sniffled, tears streaking down her face like twin raging rivers. That was far from okay. 

Kim thought that was an odd thing for a cat-girl to say, but she did not ask about it. Right now, she needed to calm the feline down and find out whom Cali might have killed. So, she rubbed the cat’s back, ignoring the powerful muscles she could feel under the flimsy one-piece suit Cali wore.

“Okay, now…” Kim paused for a moment. “I’m sorry, sweetie, but do you have a name?”

“Cali…” she answered through her tears.

Odd thing number three for the day, Kim thought. It was strange to her that the cat-girl was named after the stray cat that Kim tried so hard to adopt not too long ago. A coincidence, she figured.

“Okay, Cali, who did you hit?” the redhead asked. 

“The alpha,” Cali repeated.

“Okay, what’s the alpha’s name?” 

“Dementor.”

“You hit your boss?” Kim inquired in a slightly surprised voice. She was not sure why she was so shocked by that. After all, Shego used to hit Drakken all of the time. Granted, she never almost-killed the nutty doctor, but she did hit him a lot.

“I hit the alpha,” Cali said once more and started sobbing harder, causing her whole body to shake. She sounded frightened now, making her seem even more hysterical. Her cries were loud and forceful, causing her body to tremble and shake as if she was in an earthquake. 

“Shh…” Kim rubbed her back and her neck. “It’s okay. It’s okay. Where is he?”

“In the house.”

“Will you show me where? Maybe I can help.”

Cali nodded; she had run to Kim for help anyway. They exited the school. Kim turned on the security system for the downstairs before she left. She also sent Shego and Yori a message that she was going to be gone for a while. They would take care of her students for her. 

Kim followed Cali, figuring out minutes into the journey that they had a long way to go. Cali ran at a speed that she thought was slow, but she noticed after a while the way that Kim struggled to keep up with her. After a while, Kim had to stop.

“Okay, hold on a second, Cali. Where are we going exactly?” Kim inquired while taking in as much air as she could to fill her burning lungs. If it was a long distance, she was pretty sure that Cali planned to just run there. The feline had unbelievable stamina, especially for a cat. 

“To the mountains,” the feline answered.

“What mountains?” Kim asked.

“Um…” Cali had to think on it rather hard. She sort of just knew her way there, but she did not know exactly what the mountains were called. “The ones that are that way,” she replied while pointing ahead of them. 

“How far that way?”

“A half-day’s run.” 

Kim could imagine how long a “half-day’s run” was for Cali. She decided to get Wade on the case, who quickly located Dementor’s lair and got them a ride there. Cali panicked the whole time there and Kim had to hold onto her, petting her, and trying to assure her everything would be all right. As soon as they got to the lair, Cali practically jumped out of the vehicle. Cali was ready to go in through her cat-flap, but Kim just opened the front door. Cali seemed almost amazed by that. 

The feline’s mouth dropped open and her eyes went wide. “Wow…” the cat-girl muttered while walking in behind Kim.

“So, where was Dementor lying after you hit him?” Kim inquired, looking around the lair. 

“Over there…” Cali answered in a mutter while motioning across from them. The space was clean and clear, even the statue she broke yesterday was gone.

“Well, he’s clearly not there now. Maybe he woke up, so you didn’t kill him,” Kim said optimistically. 

“He’s gonna be so mad…” Cali shivered and clutched onto Kim’s back.

The redhead could not help looking back. The sun-colored eyes of the cat-girl seemed to cower as much as her body trembled as she held onto Kim like a piece of driftwood in a rough river. Kim considered she might have bruises where Cali held her when things were all said in done. 

“Let’s have a look around,” Kim suggested. She wondered why Cali was so frantic about this, though. She seemed scared that she killed Dementor, but also feared his wrath if he was not dead. What happened between the pair?

“We don’t need to. He walked that way when he got up.” Cali pointed ahead of them to a door. She could smell his vibrant aroma coming from that direction. His scent was strong, but definitely not the scent of death. “It goes to his special area. I’m not allowed there,” she added in a shaky whisper. 

“His special area? You make it sound like he’s being molested,” Kim remarked with a teasing smile. The joke went by Cali, who probably would not have gotten it if she were not almost literally shaking in her boots. Kim patted Cali’s hand. “Come on, you’re with me, so it’s okay.”

Cali did not respond verbally and dared to take a step when the redhead in front of her took a step. The cat-girl did not stop trembling, though. They did not make it too far before Cali stopped walking altogether and since she was still clutching Kim, the hero had to also cease.

“He’s coming,” Cali whispered as her bottom lip quivered. Her ears flattened out on her head, disappearing into her long mane of dark brown hair. She hunched over, like she was trying to hide behind Kim. 

“How do you know?” Kim asked.

“I can hear and smell him,” she answered, sounding on the verge of tears again.

Kim was going to say something, but her words were cut short as she saw Dementor approaching them. She noticed the white bandages wrapped around his head. Okay, Cali must have hit him like she claimed. The scowl on his lips and fire in his eyes when he noticed them seemed to back the claim even more.

“You stupid, mangy feline! You brought Kim Possible to my secret lair?” Dementor hollered and Cali shrank back more.

“Hey, don’t yell at her! She brought me here to help,” Kim barked back, pointing behind her in case he did not know whom she meant.

“She brought you here because she doesn’t have a brain! Now, as you can see I’m fine, so you may leave my house right now, post haste, immediately!” Dementor ordered, motioning violently to his front door.

Kim rolled her eyes. “Fine, I’m going, but you might want to get your head looked at for a concussion.”

“I am fine and you may leave!” He pointed harshly toward the exit, stomping his foot as he did so.

Kim shrugged. She did not really have a reason to stick around since he was all right and she was not “on the clock.” She turned to Cali.

“See, you didn’t kill him. You probably just gave him a little knot on the head. I’ve done worse to the guy,” Kim commented in a light tone, trying to comfort the cat-girl in someway.

Cali nodded, but there was still that fear in her eyes, like she thought that she was going to be torn to bits as soon as she was left alone with Dementor. Kim turned around to face the cat-girl, looking to figure out if she should leave Cali with Dementor. The feline was trembling, after all, and she was definitely not faking it.

“You know, you don’t have to stay with him,” Kim whispered to Cali.

“I have to. He’s the alpha,” Cali replied as she moved away from the redhead.

Kim gave Cali a sympathetic look and reached over to pet the cat-girl, which got a purr from the feline. Kim then turned to leave and Cali gave her a sidelong glance. When Kim was gone, Cali turned her attention to Dementor as he started screaming.

“You know you could have killed me, you fish-head-eating, worthless mutant!” Dementor hollered. “This is probably why that fat woman threw you out! She hated you, you know that? She thought you were worthless just like I do! She knew you were a worthless monster!”

Cali’s body continued to tremble, changing from fear to rage just like before. She was not a worthless monster! She had done everything possible to please him and the other alpha and nothing was good enough!

Her paw flexed and Dementor seemed to notice that time. Suddenly, those bright yellow eyes snapped to his form and he shrank back, thinking she might hit him again. She noticed the change in his demeanor.

“You… you… you… stay away from me, you wild beast! Remember I own you!” he stated in a shaky voice.

“You don’t own me,” Cali said in a dangerous growl as her ears came out of their hiding place and faced forward. It only just occurred to her, but the man before her was no alpha. An alpha would not tremble before her. An alpha would put her in her place, but he could not do that.

“What would you do without me? You would’ve died out there in the cold without me! You’re nothing without me!” Dementor declared and his next statement was going to prove those facts. “Get out! Get out and don’t come back until you know your place!”

Cali snarled, canine teeth coming out like dangerous pearl-colored knives. Dementor fell back, tripping over his own feet when he saw the predatory glint in her eyes. Cali stood over him for a moment, seemingly ready to pounce, but then she turned around and ran off. Flames covered her for a moment as she changed into her little cat form to make it through the cat-flap.

For a brief second, Cali had no clue where she was going to go or what she was going to do. She had been thrown away, again. She was always getting thrown away, she thought. Used and then tossed aside… except for one person, she thought. 

“Kimmie,” the cat-girl breathed out. _Kim_ , her mind immediately reminded her. The person that was kind to her, affectionate toward her, never yelled at her, and, as an added bonus, had a history of beating the person she saw as her alpha.

She dashed forward, hoping to catch up to the hero, but soon realized Kim’s scent did not go very far before it seemed to drift into the air. She figured out that Kim must have gotten one of those “ride” things, like the one that brought them to the mountain. No problem, though. 

“I found her once and I can find her again,” Cali decided as she pressed onward to locate Kimmie, the new alpha. The _right_ alpha.

-*-(New day)-*-

“Kim, baby, can you please take out the garbage?” Bonnie requested while she was wrist-deep in soapsuds. She was washing the dishes from dinner, which Shego had cooked to give Bonnie a break. Shego, feeling her chores were done for the night, was in the game room and beating up on the pinball machine again.

“No big!” Kim practically chirped and she pretty much bounced into the kitchen to take out the trash. She was just happy to be helpful.

Bonnie could not help smiling because of the spring in Kim’s step. She liked seeing Kim happy, of course. She especially liked Kim was so happy just to assist her. 

Kim grabbed the garbage and glanced around the kitchen to make sure there was not something that needed to be thrown out. She saw that the place was clear, so she tied up the trash and pulled it out of the bin. She then marched downstairs to put the garbage out. She strolled out to the side of the building, where there was a dumpster. She chucked the garbage inside and was ready to go back inside, but a tiny meow caught her attention. She turned around to see a familiar-looking cat crawling out from a box.

“Cali?” Kim wondered because the feline certainly looked like the stray she wanted to adopt. 

The cat let out what sounded like a happy meow as it charged to the redhead. The cat planted its feet and then leaped into Kim’s arm. The creature wasted no time cuddling into her chest.

“Cali, it is you!” Kim grinned and pressed the feline close. “I’m so glad you’re all right! I missed you so much!”

The cat seemed to grin while purring merrily. Kim smiled broadly and did not even think as she went back into the building. She brought Cali upstairs, going on and on about how she was going to get the cat some tuna and warm milk. That sounded like a great plan to Cali. 

“Hey, loves, guess who I found!” Kim announced in a joyous tone.

“Who could you have picked up while throwing out the garbage?” Shego voiced the question that Bonnie was thinking. Of course, with Kim, they knew anything was possible.

“Cali!” Kim informed them while holding up her lost kitty.

“Hey, you can’t just bring home a cat like this,” Shego objected and abandoned her pinball game to go harp on Kim face to face. 

Bonnie walked over with Shego. They both eyed Kim with displeasure. Cali took in their expression and sank into Kim’s arms. She could tell that the women before her were powerful. She wondered which one was the alpha.

“Just for tonight? Please?” Kim requested.

Bonnie and Shego were about to protest, at least to properly discuss having a pet, but Kim hit them with her secret, ultimate attack. The puppy-dog pout came out faster than they expected and they were not prepared to see it. They actually grimaced as if they were punched in the stomach when she put the pout on her face. 

“Damn it,” Bonnie and Shego murmured together. They sighed and dropped their heads while their shoulders slumped.

Cali blinked hard, as if surprised by their defeated stances. The cat had to look up at the face that Kim made to see how it had such influence over seemingly powerful women. Cali blinked again when seeing the look on Kim’s face. It did seem like quite the weapon to her and she guessed it might make Kim the alpha, unless the other two had equally mighty techniques.

“Just for tonight,” Shego stated, trying to sound firm. Her voice was not as strong as she would have liked, though.

“Thank you!” Kim smiled and gave both of her girlfriends quick kisses. She then hugged Cali closer to her. “Come on, Cali, let’s get you some tuna!”

Cali purred at that declaration while Kim carried her into the kitchen. Bonnie and Shego sighed again. They looked at each other and then looked at Kim, who glided around the kitchen to get food for her kitty. 

“We’ll get you some good food and milk and then I’ll set up a bed for you. I guess tomorrow I’ll go out and get you a litter box. Something really good. Maybe a pet bed, too, and one of those scratching posts,” Kim rambled as she opened the cabinets.

“This is just for tonight, right?” Bonnie wondered aloud as she watched Kim in horror.

“Hell, yeah,” Shego confirmed, but once again, she did not sound as firm as she meant to. It was just for the night. They would get rid of the cat tomorrow, she silently insisted, yet even in her own head, she did not sound like her word was law. Damn it.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: two reluctant pet owners and some alone time for the trio.


	18. Peach Pit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters, except for Cali anyway. But, as you full well know by now, all of the other characters belong to Disney. 
> 
> Shout out to Jo for ideas that appear in this chapter. I think I messed up what she suggested, so sorry about that. Also, sorry it’s kinda of one long chapter of nothing.
> 
> Warning: sexual content… blah, blah, blah… three women getting on… blah, blah, blah… Leave if that’s not your thing… blah, blah, blah.

18: Peach Pit 

“So, you’re going to tell her, right?” Bonnie asked in a whisper, speaking to Shego. They were in their pajamas in the living room, staring at the sofa. Well, more staring at the bodies on the sofa than anything else.

“I’m going to tell her? Why do I have to be the bad guy?” Shego countered in a low hiss, pointing to herself.

They made sure to keep their voices as low as possible. They were not sure if their girlfriend was awake or not and they were not looking to wake her if she was asleep. They were not looking to chance her hearing their conversation if she was not sleeping. 

“Because you were the one that swore she was only keeping that cat for the night. That was a few nights ago,” Bonnie pointed out rather smugly yet making sure to keep an even tone. She nudged Shego a little with her elbow, hoping that would get the older woman to move forward.

Frowning, Shego dug in, not moving an inch. “But, you don’t like the cat as much as me. Why don’t you tell her?” She folded her arms across her chest. She frowned a bit as if that solidified her stance on the matter… not that she seemed to clearly state her stance in the first place.

Bonnie sighed and shook her head. How could she say anything to Kim about the cat when it was clear how happy Kim was to have the feline around? The redhead carried around the feline almost as if it was her baby, rubbing her belly when the cat was in her arms, always making sure there was food in the cat’s bowl, giving the cat bottled spring water to drink, and making sure Cali had tuna every night since she seemed so in love with the fish.

“I was the one that stopped her from buying all of the cat stuff. You need to do your part,” Bonnie pointed out. She had not really stopped Kim. She had just managed to hold her off, saying they should research the best products. She had hoped by then Shego would lie down the hammer and the cat would be gone.

Shego scoffed. “Oh, please. Don’t try to act like you did so much when all you did was delay the whole process.”

“I still did more than you.” 

Shego sucked her teeth. “It’s not a competition,” she sneered. She had to know how ridiculous she sounded saying that.

“Why are you being so cranky about this, sweetness? I thought you were the bad girl of the group,” Bonnie teased, obviously trying to push Shego into taking the task that neither of them seemed to want.

Shego scowled deeply. Her face and neck tensed a bit because of her expression. Bonnie was certain if she looked close enough, she would be able to see Shego’s pulse beating in her neck.

Any other time, Shego would have rightfully and proudly declared herself the bad girl of their trio, but not now. Now, she was just as Bonnie called her: sweetness. She could not see herself walking over to Kim and reminding her that the cat was supposed to have gone days ago. She could already picture the heartbroken expression that would slide onto Kim’s face. She could see tears in those olive eyes and she could practically feel that damned puppy-dog pout. She could not bring herself to inflict that sort of pain on the redhead.

“Come on, Duchess. Let’s leave her be for now,” Shego replied, turning to walk into the game room.

Bonnie lingered for a moment, considering if Shego had a point. She did like that Kim was happy, but they really had not discussed having a pet. She was not sure if she liked having a cat around the house either, even though Cali seemed to be quite the clean feline. She was not totally sure what she had against the cat, or maybe it was pets in general, but she decided not to dwell on it.

“Let’s see how this works out. I mean, if Kimmie’s happy then I don’t have a real problem with it,” Bonnie commented under her breath while turning to go into the kitchen. She figured that as long as Kim was happy, it was good enough, because her mission in life was to make her lovers happy.

-8-8-8-8-

Cali was curled up on the sofa, twitching every so often. She was not having the most pleasant sleep despite the fact that she was being hugged by the presence of Kim, who was watching some television after a long day of saving the world. Right now, Kim was not on the cat’s mind, though. She was reliving parts of her past in her sleep, parts she wished she could wipe from her memory.

-*-(Dream)-*-

Cali remembered when she was very tiny, like a multi-colored, softball-sized puff. She guessed it was when she first came into being. She was not sure how she was born. It was like she was just there one day. She did not recall a mother of any kind, like she had seen with alley cats and other creatures during her lost time. Her first memory had to do with being hugged by a very large, warm, and soft body. It felt so much like those arms loved her and she never wanted to leave them.

Back then, she did not really understand words, but she could read expressions and body language. Those were sort of her specialties. The large woman seemed quite content to have her around. Whenever the big lady held Cali, she would make all sorts of squealing and delighted sounds, expressing her joy. She felt the same: smiling, always smiling.

“Oh, you’re my best invention yet! A kitten and a puppy mixed together. You’re just about the cuddliest thing a person could have!” the grinning woman exclaimed like a giddy child almost daily for the first couple of weeks they were together.

Yes, she was a kitten mixed with a puppy. A “kippy” her inventor would later dub her. She had the large ears of a pup along with the stocky legs. Her chest was narrow like a cat, but she managed to get the lung capacity of a canine. Her tail was long and thin like a feline’s tail for balance. Her paws were big, also like a cat’s paw. She had incredible senses all-around thanks to the blend of her genes. She had a rich inheritance from both heritages. Her creator always sang her praises in that regard.

She was cuddled and loved for those first couple of weeks when she did adorable things, like play with balls of yarn. She rolled over on command. She balanced little biscuits on her nose, even though her muzzle was close to being too short for such a trick. She was the highlight of the big lady’s day for those little stunts, but that did not last very long. After all, she was kitten and a puppy. There were other instincts inside of her that her creator seemed to forget about until it was too late.

It started with a couple of the smaller creations around the lab missing. She stalked and pounced them like a cat, ambushing them from behind items. It took her a while to figure out biting the throat or holding the mouth shut was the best way to end the struggling. After that, she took to chasing them in the dark, her endurance greater than any of her prey thanks to her canine genes. She hid her prey well, like a puma or a leopard, putting the carcasses in places that only she had access to.

Soon, she grew proud of her skills. She was able to hunt and kill almost anything in the lab, even a few things that were bigger than she was. She wanted to show it off to the big woman. After all, that was the alpha and she wanted to impress the alpha.

One day, she trotted up to the alpha, dragging something along with her in her mouth. It was a large prey item. She thought, the bigger, the better at the time. After all, she could probably eat something half the size of her prey by herself, so she needed to bring some large to her much larger alpha. She sat at the big woman’s feet and barked. Back then, she used to purr and bark. 

 _What happened to my bark?_ It had been an effective means of communicating. She could not remember when she thought it, though. Until now, she did not recall even having it, but now she missed it. Barking, like some weird little piece of her was gone. Odd. But, then again, so much was odd.

The noise got the creator’s attention, but did not get the reaction the proud hunter expected. The screaming was unexpected, not to mention an all around unhappy sound that erupted from the alpha in the beginning. The expression on the alpha’s face was like a million daggers in the kippy’s heart since it told her that she had not done a good job like she assumed she did. She did not understand words yet, but later on in life, she would recall words like “monster,” “I hate you,” “worthless,” and “get out” being hollered at her while gut-wrenching sobs escaped the alpha’s mouth.

She did not know what the words meant at the time, but they hurt just the same. The tone, the fire, it made her tremble. She thought the alpha could devour her.

She never quite figured out what she did that was so wrong. She thought she was doing a good thing, showing off what a good hunter she was, and sharing her kill with the alpha. Her instincts told her to hunt and no one ever said it was wrong to kill. Her instincts told her show her worth to the alpha, but somehow it had all gone wrong. 

The alpha cried, she recalled. She bawled long and hard while clutching the bleeding prize that her unnamed kippy merrily dragged to her. The little kippy merely looked on in confusion; why was the alpha not eating the catch? It was a good catch; she had tasted it on the way over to be sure of that.

Screaming started again, through the long and hard tears, causing the kippy’s ears to flatten out and her tail to curl between her legs. Violent gestures from the alpha and the alpha stomping toward her frightened the kippy in ways that she never experienced before in her short life. Her heart pounded in her little chest as she backed up into a wall, thinking she was about to meet her end. She could not help wondering if maybe the alpha had made her prey for some reason that was beyond her young mind…

-8-8-8-8-

Kim cuddled her cat as she noticed Cali shaking in her sleep. The cat seemed to know that the warm embrace was full of love and so she calmed down. Kim smiled a bit as the feline snuggled into her chest and continued sleeping. She leaned down and kissed the top of the cat’s head. The shivering stopped.

Cali had a good sleep for the reminder of her rest. When she woke up, she practically grinned to see Kim’s sleeping face. She rubbed her head underneath Kim’s chin for almost a minute before jumping down to go locate some food.

She wandered into the kitchen and peered into her empty food dish, which was a regular ceramic bowl. She recalled she had eaten the tuna that had been there before she fell asleep. She looked around, pondering what to do about her food situation. She was very hungry.

Well, she could wake Kim up, but she really did not want to do that. Kim was nice enough to let her sleep, so she should return the favor. Besides, what if she upset Kim by waking her up? She did not want to get screamed at, or worse, thrown out.

Hmm… what to do? Maybe she could get the food herself. Now, what cabinet was the tune kept in? One of the top ones. Okay, no problem. One leap and she was up on the sink counter. Now, onto the cupboard with the delicious treasure inside.

Cali stood on her hind legs, trying to get to the cupboard door. She swatted at the corner with her paw, but it did not open. She hissed and kept trying, but she was not getting the results that she desired. She whined, wondering what her options were now. There was one thing that she could do, but she dared not do it, knowing it was not normal and could possibly lead to her being kicked out.

“What the hell are you doing?” the gruff, and slightly puzzled, voice of Shego startled the feline.

Cali whipped around, facing the entrance of the kitchen to see Shego standing there. She had on her typical scowl when regarding the cat, which caused Cali to gulp. Was she in trouble? Should she be standing on the counter? Was it wrong to paw at the cabinets? What? Would she be told or would she be thrown out again?

“Get your fat ass off of the counter,” Shego ordered, shoving the cat down before Cali even got the chance to obey on her own.

The feline screeched as she fell. She turned herself to make sure she landed on her feet, which she did. She padded back as soon as she was on the floor. Her ears laid flat on her head and her tail was tucked between her legs. Shego smirked, looking downright evil toward the cat.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Shego wondered aloud and then she glanced over at the food dish. “Oh, your fat ass is looking for more food. Where the hell are you putting all of this damn tuna, anyway?”

Cali frowned, as best a cat could anyway. She did not know why she ate so much, but she guessed that she did. She did not think that made her fat, though. She was slightly offended to be called such, but thought it best to be submissive to the raven-haired woman. She sensed danger from Shego. Besides, she knew Kim was partial toward Shego.

“So, you were up here to get food. I guess you’re not too bright either along with being fat, huh? I mean, even if you did open the cabinet and even get a can down, how the hell were you gonna open it?” Shego taunted the cat with a smirk while going into the cabinet and fishing out a can of tuna.

Cali’s expression changed from frightened to curious as she watched Shego open the can. Shego then dumped the contents into the feline’s dish. Shego was feeding her? Since she had been in the house, Kim was the only who seemed to express an interest in her and her wellbeing, so she did not understand why Shego was feeding her. She was not going to complain, though. 

The feline walked up to Shego and rubbed up against her leg as Shego finished up filling the food bowl. Kim seemed to like it when she showed thanks this way, so maybe Shego would like it, too. The pale woman glanced down at the cat and seemed to know that Cali was thanking her. Shego scoffed while considering if she should kick the cat or not. She decided against it.

“All the rubbing and crap might work on Kimmie, but not me. So, you eat this and don’t wake Kimmie up when you’re done and we’ll call it even,” Shego informed the cat, who seemed to nod in agreement.

Shego dismissed the nod as a figment of her imagination and walked off, leaving Cali to her food. Cali dived right into the bowl, enjoying the rich, delicious food she got with Kim. She had not eaten so good in a long time.

When the cat was done, she wondered into the living room, only to find her resting place had changed. Shego and Bonnie were in the living room, watching television. Bonnie was on Shego and the lawyer had pulled Kim onto her, letting the redhead rest on her chest.

“Kim’s a lot lighter than I always think,” Bonnie commented in a low voice, not wanting to wake their sleeping lover. She was not sure why, but Kim always seemed so big to her and she always thought having the hero lying on her would crush her. But, whenever she felt that weight on her, she was stunned, recalling Kim probably weighed less than she did.

“You both weight next to nothing in my opinion, but that could just be the freak meteor powers,” Shego remarked with a playful half-smile. In the past, she never would have joked about her powers, but in the comfort of her own home with ladies that she was certain loved, all kinds of crazy things came out of her mouth. 

“And here is it, I thought it was just because you’re the butch one,” Bonnie teased, a smile on her face, too.

“You better watch what you say to me, or you’re gonna be really lonely tonight when you started reaching out for my heat.”

Bonnie’s expression morphed into a predatory smirk. “Kimmie will keep me warm.” She then embraced the redhead as if she was a plush toy. If Kim was awake, she would probably object, but that would not have stopped them anyway. 

“As worn out as Princess is, you honestly think she’s going to be a part of anything happening tonight?” Shego pointed out, sounding a bit smug, as if she had the attorney with her logic. 

The conversation, or teasing session as it was, was interrupted as Cali came in. The cat leaped onto Kim’s back, landing with enough force for Shego to feel it and she grunted a little. Cali was about to make herself comfortable on Kim’s shoulders, but a small, tanned hand suddenly swatted her off.

“Leave Kim alone,” Bonnie ordered the cat with a completely serious expression on her face. Her turquoise eyes were hard and a frown directed toward the cat marred her smooth features. Cali let out a little meow, confused as to why she was swatted.

“I thought we had a deal, fatso,” Shego scolded the feline.

Cali’s ears were down and her tail went between her legs again. She settled down low, turning half of her body away from them. Her eyes went wide and seemed to beg for forgiveness.

Shego rolled her eyes and scoffed. _Yeah, this is all I need, another female around the house who knows how to be pathetically cute_. The thought made her chuckle slightly. Shego raised her hand and Cali flinched, as if she expected a hit. 

A hit never came. Instead, she got her head rubbed. Sure, it was a rough rub, but it was not wholly unpleasant. Cali moved her head, sniffing Shego. She wanted to remember this scent to remind herself that Shego was not as threatening as she seemed. Shego might smell differently when truly angered, too, so she needed to know that just in case.

“All right, now, get going. Go do cat things,” Shego commanded, lightly shoving Cali away from her. 

The cat padded a few feet from the green-skinned woman. She regarded Shego for a moment before turning to look at Kim. She looked at Shego once more, seeing a sort of “I dare you” look in those sharp, almond-shaped eyes. Cali trotted off to go explore her desired new home.

“Seems like you’re getting attached to the cat,” Bonnie commented, seemingly out of the blue as far as her older girlfriend was concerned.

It took Shego a couple of seconds to respond because of how random the remark seemed to her. “Nah, I hate pets,” she replied dismissively.

“Doesn’t look that way. You fed her, you petted her, next you’ll be hugging her like Kim does,” Bonnie teased.

Shego scoffed. “You keep this up and you’ll be the only one around here not getting hugs from me if that’s the case.” 

Bonnie scoffed too, even though she thoroughly disliked that idea. She knew Shego was spiteful enough to carry out that threat, too… for a little while anyway. A little while was longer than she wanted to be without an embrace from her lover, though. 

“You’re evil,” Bonnie said.

“Doy.” 

“I’m trying to figure out how Kimmie and then I fell in love with someone so evil.”

Shego scoffed. “Because I’m so loveable, doy.”

Snorting, Bonnie rolled her eyes. She did not have a response for that, though. Shego had to be something close to loveable since they were where they were.

The pair then turned their attention to the movie that they were supposed to be watching. Halfway through the movie, Cali trotted back into the living room. She had been up and down the apartment a few times, finding little hiding places and things like that, just in case she needed them. She noticed there were plenty of open rooms with boxes. Those rooms did not hold the scent of any of the ladies, so Cali moved on from those quickly areas.

Outside of any place that Kim was, her favorite place in her new home was the garden, hands down. She hoped she would get to spend more time out in the garden, hopefully with Kim. It was like being outside, which was some place she rarely got to visit. 

Cali settled down away from the relaxing lovers and watched them. She had seen them piled on each other a few times since coming to stay at the house and she was trying to figure out the meaning behind it. Did it have something to do with being in some type of order? She doubted that it was it. Kim was usually in the center of it rather than on top, which she would think would be an alpha’s place and she was still somewhat sure that Kim was the alpha. Somewhat.

A few days of being in the house, Cali was trying to figure out how things worked with the trio. She was not used to living with three humans, so she really did not know how things worked. She was accustomed to being around one human, whom, she was always certain, was the alpha. Up until a few days ago, she had always thought being human meant being alpha, but that did not add up with the three women she was with now. It was not possible for there to be three alphas… right?

Cali watched the trio without moving until they started moving. Once the picture was over, Bonnie got up to make dinner. Shego shook Kim awake only seconds before the Kimmunicator started going off. Cali noted that Shego was allowed to wake Kim while the redhead responded to the call that she was getting. 

“Gotta go save the world!” Kim announced, getting up and running off to go put on her mission clothes.

“Be back by dinner!” Bonnie commanded, calling to the hero’s retreating form.

“Will do! Somebody feed Cali for me!” 

Kim was gone before anyone could agree to her request. Cali did not think anything of Kim running off. She had seen it happen a couple times already. She noted that only Kim did such a thing, so she wondered if it had something to do with Kim being the alpha, even though she continued to see things that made her wonder if Kim was actually the alpha of the house.

Why was Shego allowed to wake Kim if the redhead was alpha? Kim had not told anyone to wake her up, so Shego should not have been able to do it, Cali figured. Shego was an anomaly to Cali and she deserved further investigation, even though Cali was determined to keep Kim as alpha in her mind. After all, Kim had overridden the other two with one look to get them to agree to let Cali live with them.

Bonnie was also an anomaly, but not as much as Shego. Bonnie barked out orders, which were often obeyed by Kim without argument, but Shego always argued. Kim did not seem to argue with either women, but the two of them seemed to always argue with each other. Cali did not think that as alpha Kim should be obeying the orders of the other two women, but as far as the cat could tell, she always did. It was rather peculiar and she was not sure what to make of it.

Cali wandered into the kitchen, moving around Bonnie for a moment. She was careful because Bonnie seemed very into whatever she was doing. Cali did not want to get in the way, but that did not happen for long. She got tangled up in Bonnie’s legs and almost tripped her.

“Goddamn it! Cali, will you get out of the damn way!” Bonnie huffed while catching herself on the counter to avoid falling.

Cali jumped and moved back quickly, ears flat and tail tucked once again. She noted Kim did not yell as much as Bonnie or Shego. Maybe that had something to do with being alpha. But, then again, Kim did not seem as fierce as Bonnie or Shego either, which was just odd for an alpha.

“Damn pest,” Bonnie grumbled, glaring at the retreating feline. It seemed like the cat was always in the way and she had not even been in the house that long.

Cali trotted off, knowing Bonnie would yell at her until she was out of sight. She went to see what Shego was doing. The raven-haired woman was in the game room, doing her favorite solo activity. She was beating up on the pinball machine.

The cat sat down at Shego’s feet, learning a couple of days ago that it was not a good thing to sit on the game while Shego was playing it. She was learning Shego had no problem with shoving and throwing her off of things. The eldest was the only one in the trio that did that. Kim scolded Shego about when she witnessed such actions and Shego tended to look upset, but she grumbled apologizes to Kim. Cali only added those things to her already long index of strange behaviors between the women.

Shego noticed the cat, but did not say anything since all she was doing was sitting there. It was a little creepy that the cat stared at her the whole time, but still, she did not say anything. She might mention to Kim that her cat was weird, though. 

After a while, Shego got bored with pinball. She left the game room and went to the kitchen to see when dinner was going to be ready. She found Bonnie putting the finishing touches on the meal, pulling out the Cornish hen from the oven.

Bonnie bending over the stove immediately caused a naughty thought to pop into Shego’s head. With things being relatively normal, Shego was once again able to focus on things that she felt were important, like the fact that she was in a relationship with two incredibly sexy women. And the fact that one such woman was currently bent over in front of her in some very short shorts was extremely important.

Bonnie yelped as she felt two warm hands on her ass, one hand on each barely-covered cheek. Those hands proceeded to knead her flesh without a care in the world. She spun around.

“Shego, you’re going to make me burn the food,” Bonnie huffed… or pretended to anyway. The clouded look threatening to over take her eyes and the devilish smile on her face told a different story.

“The food’s fine. How about we entertain ourselves until Kimmie gets back?” Shego suggested in a low tone, leaning closer to the lawyer. She placed a quick, simple peck to Bonnie’s lips. 

“You are just no good…” The words were spoken while she was putting her arms around Shego’s neck. Shego chuckled and picked Bonnie up, putting her on the closest clear section of the counter.

“I am evil,” the older woman reminded her lover, leaning in for a real kiss. 

“I hope you guys aren’t about to do what it looks like you’re about to do,” Kim commented, standing just outside the kitchen.

The “busted” pair turned to Kim, sly expressions creeping onto their faces. They then both did the same move, beckoning the redhead to them with curled index fingers. Kim could not help thinking how unbelievably sexy that was. 

“Did you guys rehearse that move or something?” Kim joked, chuckling a bit as she spoke.

“Just get your ass over here,” Shego ordered, now pointing down at the ground with her index finger. 

“Or we’ll have to spank you,” Bonnie added with an evil smile that seemed to suggest she was serious about that one.

“I just came in from a mission. I don’t think you want me to join you just yet,” Kim commented. 

Shego and Bonnie looked at each other. They appeared to be deep in thought for a few seconds and then they turned their attention back to Kim. The hero swallowed hard from the feral glint in their eyes. She had a feeling they did not care where she had been and she was right.

Shego and Bonnie actually charged over to Kim. The redhead tried to turn and run, but the other martial artist of the trio got to her first, grabbing her by the wrist. Before Kim knew it, she was on the floor with Shego holding her down. Bonnie loomed over her and both women smirked evilly.

Cali trotted over to see what was going on. Seeing Kim on the ground, she thought the other two women might be staging a coup. One of them was trying to take the alpha position from Kim, the feline considered. She decided she would watch the scene, but if it was true that they were trying to take the alpha space, she was not going to allow that to happen. If Kim was not the alpha, then one of the others, especially Bonnie, might decide to throw Cali out.

“Okay, guys, this isn’t funny. I’m really not in any condition to play,” Kim objected. She was sweaty and dirty. She really wanted to take a shower more than anything else.

“Why do you always want to spoil our fun, Princess?” Shego inquired with a long purr at the end. Leaning down, she gave Kim a kiss on the end of her nose. She was surprised to find Kim frowning when she pulled away.

“I’m not spoiling it. I’m just not prepared for this like you two are,” Kim explained in an even tone, even though she really wanted to yell at her girlfriends to get them to release her. 

“Like us?” Bonnie echoed in a puzzled tone. “What the hell are you talking about, baby? Sex isn’t about being prepared. Half of the fun is the spontaneity of it all.”

“Yeah,” Shego agreed.

“You guys have been inside all day. You didn’t just go out and roll around in the dirt, get shot at, and stuff like that. At least let me take a shower first,” the globetrotter pointed out, trying to wiggle away with the hope of getting her shower. 

Shego and Bonnie looked at each other. Once again they appeared in deep thought. They nodded, coming to the same conclusion. They then eased off of Kim, allowing her to get up as they stood up, too.

“You win this round, Possible,” Bonnie said. 

“I win every round,” Kim boasted with a confident smirk. Whenever she chose to fight back anyway, she won.

They watched as Kim retreated to the bathroom. They turned to each other again, silently deciding they did not like her attitude. They did not like her comment either. It was almost like she was bragging when she used to beat them at everything years ago.

Bonnie frowned as she turned to Shego. “What the hell was that?” 

“I think it’s time we take the Princess down a notch,” Shego commented as she folded her arms across her chest.

“I have just the items for that,” Bonnie replied with a grin that probably would have made the devil cringe. 

“I love it when you look like that,” the elder woman remarked, a smirk now forming on her face. She could only wonder what wickedness her little Duchess had in mind. “It makes me want to put you back up on that counter,” she added with a growl.

Bonnie wagged her finger at Shego. “Later, love. Right now, we must plot against Kim and show her she hasn’t won _every_ round.” 

Cali just watched, wondering what the hell was going on. She just did not understand them, any of them. She did not think it was a bad thing, but it was not a good thing either. She needed to figure out how things worked in her new home if she wanted to continue to have a new home.

“Here, this is for you. But, you better make sure you stay out of the way for the rest of the night,” Shego said to the cat, putting a plate with slices of chicken on the floor for the cat.

Cali actually nodded and meowed. A plate of chicken to stay out of the way? Sounded like a good deal to her, as long as they did not attack Kim again. She did not like that, even though Kim did not seem very distressed. Maybe it was because Kim did not have to be distressed. As alpha, Kim could probably defeat Shego and Bonnie without a problem if necessary. Maybe… Cali just was not sure. These women were so weird! 

Shego went about her business, helping Bonnie with her evil scheme. They figured Kim was probably going to kill them later on for what Bonnie came up with, but it would teach her to watch her mouth next time. Besides, it was kind of a treat and a punishment all in one.

“It’s not like we’ve ever taken the time to focus on her as much as she does on us,” Bonnie muttered, speaking to herself.

Shego knew it was time for her to chime in. She had to keep Bonnie’s mean-streak going. She used to think it was a bit strange at how much a bitch Bonnie could be to everyone, but not Kim. Now, she understood it and everything, but right now, she wanted to prevent it from coming out until they were done.

“Not only have we never taken the time to focus on her like she has on us, but she doesn’t know how to have fun anymore, anyway,” Shego pointed out, looking to egg the smaller female on. 

“Huh?” Bonnie asked, turning her attention to the ex-villainess. Her face scrunched up a little, a wrinkle in her brow, and her eyebrows curled up. 

“Think about it. Whenever we have a chance to do something fun, Kimmie’s the first one to rain on the parade. She’s always got some excuse now. I mean, yeah, she’s fine with a little messing around, but nothing really fun. I don’t know what her problem is or where this comes from because she wasn’t like this before. I mean, she’s the boring one out of us,” Shego stated.

Bonnie nodded as she considered Shego’s words. Kim was the boring one out of them now, when it came to certain things anyway. She wondered when that happened. She paused for a moment to think about it.

Once upon a time, Bonnie had been the “boring one” out of the three. Kim did not have a problem with all sorts of sexual antics once they had established “rules,” namely that it was all right for two of them to get busy if the third was not around. Sure, she used to resist a bit and feign modesty, but she tended to give in. But, now, she resisted as much as she could if they were going to do something outside of the bedroom or the bathroom. 

“I think she’s still feeling a bit drained from when her parents rejected her and our relationship,” Bonnie commented after a few moments of thought.

“Yeah, probably. It’s a bit weird, though,” Shego replied.

Bonnie shook her head. “I don’t think so. She’s not used to her parents being opposed to something she’s doing, so I’m sure their disapproval will stick with her for a while, even though they’re kind of okay with it now. I think she’s worried about going over the top. It might not even be in her conscious thought, but I think that’s it.”

“Well, we need to work her back to the way she was before all of that and not to mention all of the other bullshit we’ve been through. So, let’s get this started,” Shego declared with some vigor as she rubbed her palms together. Bonnie nodded with the same energy. They were going to go through the plan. 

-8-8-8-8-

The trio had a quiet dinner, which was weird in and of itself. Typically, when they ate, Bonnie and Shego had to go back and forth with each other. They were suspiciously silent right now.

Kim also found it odd that Bonnie set things up on the dining room table since they rarely ate there. They usually ate at the countertop that separated the kitchen from the rest of the apartment. She did not say anything, though, and just ate her food.

As soon as Kim was finished, Bonnie made sure to be the one to clear her plate. She rushed off with the empty dish, earning a curious look from Kim. The hero did not say anything about the bizarre behavior and stretched in her chair while letting loose a long yawn. 

“That was great, Bonnie,” Kim said, referring to the meal.

“Oh, it’s about to get even better,” Shego quipped with a smirk as she stood from her chair.

Kim regarded at Shego oddly as the older woman approached her and leaned down close to her. The redhead thought Shego might be starting up again, but did not back away. She did not seem to be quite receptive toward the idea either, though. Shego laughed a bit.

“I remember there was a time when you would’ve pounced on me and had your way with me right on the floor. Or let me have my way with you on the kitchen counter. Hell, one time, you had been ready to do it on the deck in the backyard of the old house, not caring that someone might be watching. Now, you won’t even think about it unless we’re in the all in the bathroom or in the bedroom. What’s wrong with you?” Shego inquired in a surprisingly soft voice.

“There’s nothing wrong with me. I just…” Kim trailed off for a moment, looking down with an intense expression on her face for a few seconds. “I’m just not in the mood a lot of the time…”

Shego almost openly scoffed, but held it in. She dared to consider that Kim was frightened to do anything more intimate than a peck on the lips outside of the privacy of their bedroom. It was like she was scared someone might find out, label them again, and put them through Hell once more. Or worse yet, just put Kim through Hell again, like her parents would find out that she did kinky things and look at her through the same eyes that nearly disowned her not too long ago.

“You’re not in the mood a lot of the time? You don’t like being with me or with your baby?” Shego asked, voice still soft and now almost sad. Her eyes seemed to shimmer with concern. 

“It’s not that…” Kim replied, not sure what else to say. She loved them and she loved being with them, but everything did not need to boil down to sex.

“Then what is it?” Shego pressed.

“It’s just that sometimes I’m not in the mood,” Kim insisted, her voice was rather weak on the matter, as if she did not believe it herself. She did not know what else it might be, though.

Shego rolled her eyes. It would seem she was not going to get an honest answer out of the redhead for right now. Part of her wondered if Kim knew the honest answer. Fine, she might as well start things if Kim wanted to be difficult. She kept her eyes on Kim, which seemed to keep Kim in her chair. 

Shego knew she had to act fast before Kim’s instincts took over. She already seemed to sense something was not quite right, so Shego went ahead with the plan before Kim thought it best that she stand up. She watched as Kim’s face went from suspicious to confused as she started the plan that Bonnie came up with. The game began with two distinctive clicks and a cold feeling against Kim’s wrists.

“Shego, what the _HELL_ did you just do?” Kim demanded with a snarl, glaring at her girlfriend as if she was out of her mind. She knew what Shego just did, but her brain insisted that there was no way in Hell that Shego had just done that. No way in Hell. 

“Oh, wouldn’t you like to know,” Shego hummed with a devilish smile on her face as she leaned down. She went to kiss Kim, but Kim moved her head.

“Let me go now,” Kim ordered with a narrowed gaze. She looked positively dangerous, which Shego knew she was.

“I don’t think I’ll be doing that, Possible,” Shego replied, still smiling like an evil kitten.

“Let me go now!” She rattled the cuffs and her chair.

“Careful or you’ll break our good furniture,” Shego taunted her.

“Let me out!” Kim roared.

“Kimmie, baby, screaming isn’t going to get you out of those cuffs any faster,” Bonnie commented, clicking her tongue in a chastising fashion as she returned to the dining room, a few items in hand.

Shego pretended to ponder that, putting her hand to her chin as if she was in deep thought. “Wow, screaming won’t get her out any faster? I was gonna lie and tell her that was the exact way to get out of the cuffs. Silly me.” 

“Bonnie, babe, c’mon, let me out,” Kim pled, thinking she was talking to her reasonable girlfriend.

“Let you out? Why would I do that? Kimmie’s been a very naughty baby and needs to be punished for her actions,” Bonnie replied while putting down her array of items. She put them in front of Kim for the hero to see. There was strawberry syrup, whipped cream, and fresh, ripe strawberries.

“What’re you going to do with those?” Kim asked, peering at the items as if they were some kind of torture devices.

“I was going to make Shego a sundae,” Bonnie answered with a smile. 

“Aw, you even remembered how much I like strawberries,” the eldest said as if she was deeply touched. She clutched her hands together and managed to get her eyes to shine as if Bonnie were her hero.

“Okay, this has gone on far enough. Now, let me out!” Kim commanded, struggling against the restraints. 

“Cry all you want, Kimmie, but you’re not going to get anywhere by tugging at the cuffs. You’re just going to break the chair,” Shego warned her.

“Those are the same cuffs we use to keep Shego obedient, after all,” Bonnie added in, smirking as she spoke.

“Loves—” Kim started to object, but those words died in her throat and were replaced by new ones when Shego started working on her, running a finger down Kim’s torso. “What the hell are you doing?” she demanded as Shego began cutting her out of her t-shirt using one plasma-charged finger.

“Peeling the banana for my sundae,” Shego remarked, smiling like the cat that ate the canary… or was about to eat the canary anyway.

“Cut it out!” the redhead ordered.

“I’d rather cut it off,” Shego quipped. The words got a scowl from Kim.

More commands were barked, but easily ignored. Shego slowly cut Kim out of her shirt. She then yanked the cloth away, leaving Kim in a rather dreary and unflattering sports’ bra. Shego glanced at Bonnie, who sighed and looked down, almost as if she was embarrassed.

“Remind me again why we bother buying her sexy things?” Bonnie requested, hiding her face in her right hand for a moment.

“I was just about to ask you the same thing,” Shego replied while regarding Kim with a damn near confused expression on her face. “You have a draw full of sexy bras, why the hell are you wearing that thing?” she demanded, almost as if she was furious with Kim.

“I have a right to wear whatever I want to wear!” Kim huffed, turning her nose up at her lovers.

“Okay, you know what, now I’m pissed. I hope to Hell you didn’t have any plans on wearing this piece of shit again,” Shego stated before cutting through the bra in the same manner she had the shirt. And if Kim was not careful, she would do the same to every single sports bra Kim owned.

“Shego!” Kim protested as her breasts bounced free of the now-useless cloth.

“Time for the Kimmie sundae!” Shego proclaimed, almost as if she was shouting some devious plans to the heavens.

Bonnie stepped forward with the whipped cream. She wasted no time smearing the topping all over Kim, despite the redhead’s objections. Shego watched, licking her lips a few times while Bonnie worked. Shego was a bit surprised at Kim’s continued protests. She could not believe how bothered Kim was about them getting a little kinky.

“What happened to our Kimmie who played strip poker with us?” Shego wondered aloud.

“We should start up game night again,” Bonnie realized. In all of the confusion of the time, they had managed to forget about it.

“How about you start untying me?” Kim growled, but her words were ignored. Bonnie went back to work. After the whipped cream came the strawberry syrup.

Kim went so far as to shake while in the chair, flinging off some of the whipped cream and strawberry syrup. Bonnie was unable to place the strawberries on Kim in the manner that she planned too because the hero would not stop moving. Bonnie looked quite perplexed when she was done making the “Kimmie sundae.” She could not understand why Kim could not just go with the flow. She did not like that Kim did not seem to be enjoying things.

“Kimmie, what’s the matter?” Bonnie asked in a low, trembling tone.

Shego could see that Bonnie was starting to waver. Kim was not taking the punishment quite as they had intended and it was already affecting Bonnie. Shego stepped in front of Bonnie, set to handle things from there. She was not about to let things fall apart now, not after Kim really pissed her off.

Shego did not say anything. She just dived right in, mouth first. She kissed around the top of Kim’s left breast. The redhead had a complaint that never really made it out of her mouth. Shego knew just where to attack for any and all protests to die in Kim’s throat.

The globetrotter’s throat betrayed her first, whimpering in delight when she wanted to scream in anger. She closed her eyes as the first waves of pleasure washed over her like a rough tide crashing against the beach. Her hands clenched into fists as Shego slowly continued working just that one mound with just her mouth. She had not even come close to the center either, tongue and lips just lazily cruising around, lapping up whipped cream.

Shego was quite deliberate and focused on her actions, only kissing and licking at Kim’s flesh to start things off. She could feel Kim’s pulse under her mouth, practically hear the heart beating in her ear, so she did not even have to look up at Kim’s face to know that she already affected the hero. It was a good start because she planned to have Kim reduced to a pile of goo by the end of the night, begging for both of them to touch her.

Bonnie watched the scene for a moment, her pulse returning to normal. She had been nervous for a moment when Kim continued to resist. She really could not bring herself to be a part of doing something to Kim if the redhead was not going to enjoy herself in some way. She was close to fearing that Kim really did not want to be touched by herself or Shego. Thankfully, that did not seem to be the case, so she could continue on with punishing Kim.

As Shego cleaned off the top of Kim’s left breast, Bonnie smeared more whipped cream on it and added some more syrup. She then went to the strawberry bowl and picked one up. She cut the strawberry into some slices so that they would stay in place as she put them onto Kim’s whipped cream-covered torso. She put them on the breast that Shego was not paying homage to.

Kim was vaguely aware that Bonnie was doing something, but she could not gather exactly what. She could not pry her eyes open because Shego was applying the right amount of pressure to the right places. All she could do was focus on that, _feel_ that. She whimpered and whined as Shego pressed on, lapping at her decorated skin as if she was a tasty dessert.

Shego seemed to immediately notice her favorite fruit was on the opposite end, but she did not want to leave the breast she was occupied with just yet. She slowly cleaned the left treasure again, going from the outside and working her way in. She teased the delightful gem in the center, working her tongue around it in long laps, but not giving it the direct attention Kim wanted. Kim let loose a long, low whine. 

“Hmm… I want strawberries…” Shego muttered, speaking to herself more than anything else. She pulled away from Kim ever so slightly, her breath was able to tickle Kim’s hyper-sensitive and hot skin. Kim whimpered from the loss of contact. 

“You can have the strawberries. I’ll finish up what you were doing here,” Bonnie volunteered, bending down to Shego’s current level.

“Mighty generous of you,” Shego commented with a smile. 

“Can’t let you have all the goodies,” Bonnie remarked.

Kim was starting to regain coherent thought with the moment reprieve. She was on the brink of remembering that she was supposed to be upset over something. The frost, metallic feel against her wrists seemed to whisper to her mind that it had something to do with why she was supposed to be angry, but the whisper certainly was not loud enough. Her mind could not focus long enough to figure it out, especially not when Bonnie came in with her assault.

Bonnie went right for the spot that Shego purposely avoided. She practically inhaled the remaining whipped cream off of the stiff pearl, taking in the rigid dot along with it. She raked her teeth across the sensitive gem before rolling it with her tongue. Kim practically coughed in surprise from the sudden change, but cried out loudly instead.

“Oh, baby,” Kim actually moaned.

Shego noted the reaction that Bonnie got from Kim and she was not about to be outdone. She lapped at the sweet flesh that she was now responsible for. As she came across strawberry slices, she dragged them across Kim’s skin, letting the cool fruit make a path for her hot tongue. The contrast sent wild tremors through Kim’s chest and made her body shake in pleasure. 

The forgotten newcomer to the apartment kept her distance, as was agreed in exchange for a plate of very delicious chicken. The noise had drawn her to the scene, though. She watched the trio from the living room entrance, wondering what was going on with them.

At first, Cali thought Bonnie and Shego were staging another coup against Kim, especially considering how angry Kim sounded in the beginning of everything. She wanted to jump in and help, but she was not sure if that would have been right. Maybe Kim was not the alpha, after all. Or if she was the alpha, she should be able to put Shego and Bonnie back in line. Now, Cali was glad she did not jump in just because she did not understand what happened.

Watching the scene, Cali was not quite sure what to make of it. She had never seen something quite like it before. Yes, she had seen people handcuffed before. She used to work with Professor Dementor, after all, and every now and again, he had to restrain someone. But, she never saw restraint followed by… well, she did not even know what it was.

From what Cali could tell, Kim was enjoying whatever was going on, but it seemed like Bonnie and Shego planned to devour her. The sounds coming from Kim were foreign to Cali, but her sensitive ears were able to tell the difference between pain and pleasure, no matter how close the two seemed. The moans coming from Kim were not ones of pain, which was another reason Cali had not charged in to help. She had a feeling that if she interrupted, all three ladies would be very upset with her.

So, Cali kept her distance and observed more of their strange behavior. They were such a puzzle to her. She wondered how long she would have to be around them before she figured them out like she had with Dementor or if they would remain just out of her reach like her first alpha had.

The trio had no clue they had an audience, and probably would not have thought anything of it if they did know. Right now, all Bonnie and Shego wanted to focus on was Kim. Kim did not seem to mind the attention. And really, who cared if a cat watched them anyway?

Bonnie was still on her side, keeping Kim’s left breast the best of company. She was firmly planted at the hub of the mound, nibbling and suckling as if she was going to draw water from the body part. Her hand manipulated the outside of the mound, working just as hard as Bonnie’s lips, tongue, and teeth.

“You taste so good, baby,” Bonnie whispered before continuing on her work. Kim only moaned in response.

Shego seemed to be purposely doing the opposite of Bonnie, or maybe Bonnie was doing the opposite of her. The former thief continued to run her tongue along Kim’s chest. She was running out of strawberry slices, not to mention whipped cream. She was not quite ready to be done with her sundae, though.

Shego reached behind her without turning away from her redheaded lover. She grabbed the whipped cream and topped off Kim’s breast with it. She tried to put the whipped cream back on the table in the same manner she got it, but now she was distracted by more sweet flesh and could not devote enough brain power to be concerned with the whipped cream. The can fell with a slight clang as it hit the floor. The noise barely survived over sounds of mouths and moans, but no one paid the sound any mind.

Shego also reached behind her, wanting another strawberry. She managed to get her hand on a piece of the ruby fruit and ran it underneath Kim’s breast, collecting some whipped cream for it. Kim hissed as the chilled strawberry went across her heated skin.

Bonnie noted the noise and guessed it came from Shego’s actions. She was not about to be bested, so she decided to raise the stakes. Her free hand came to rest on Kim’s abdomen. She felt the tight muscles of Kim’s stomach tense as her fingers danced across the slick skin. Kim was starting to work up a sweat.

Kim whined as she felt Bonnie’s fingers swirling around her stomach, near her bellybutton. Her eyes remained closed tightly, tears gathered in the corner of her eyes. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she wondered what the hell she had been angry about and why she had been objecting to their actions in the first place. Maybe she was crazy, she considered. 

Shego suddenly pulled away. She was out of whipped cream and needing of another topping for her strawberries. She did not voice that necessity, but merely went to work in getting something else for it. She turned her attention to the lower half of Kim’s anatomy.

“That’ll do,” Shego muttered to herself. 

Shego then did Kim’s shorts the same way that she did Kim’s top and bra. The hero hardly noticed what was going on and only realized what Shego had done when she felt the shorts being pulled away from her. She managed to open her eyes, wanting to know what was next.

Before checking to see what Shego was doing, Kim glanced at Bonnie. The lawyer was still kneading Kim’s breast and sucking on her as if she was trying to pull the skin off. She was also biting, almost gnawing, like she planned to dine on Kim. The treatment was merely driving Kim wild with desire and making it so that Shego would have no problem getting something else to put on her strawberries.

The former villainess pressed her fingers against Kim’s cotton-covered core and felt severe dampness. She wasted no time, gathering a strawberry and pressing hard against Kim, rubbing it up and down the length of the redhead. Kim cried out loudly and bucked against the strawberry.

The fruit was gone too quickly, though. Kim kept her eyes open and watched with an interested expression as Shego wasted no time putting the strawberry in her mouth. She chewed slowly, savoring the flavor. She smirked at Kim as she ate the sweet fruit.

“Scrumptious,” Shego remarked. “Why don’t you try it?” She then leaned down and kissed Kim passionately on the lips.

Kim seemed to be nothing more than sound and feeling, mewing when Shego’s mouth came to hers. Shego wasted no time licking Kim’s bottom lip, wanting in. Kim allowed her entrance and Shego made sure Kim got a good taste of strawberry and herself. Shego hoped Kim liked it as much as she did. Kim groaned softly in protest when Shego’s mouth left hers. It would seem that she was quite not ready to part, but Shego had other things to attend.

Shego went back to her task of feasting on strawberries covered in Kim’s essence. Kim’s pulse raced in a manner that she was certain was unhealthy. She needed them to move on now or she was certain her heart would explode while the rest of her body would burst into flames and her head would cave in on itself.

“Loves…” Kim inhaled sharply as Bonnie’s hand moved to her unoccupied breast and twisted the pink center before kneading the whole mound. Kim shuddered and groaned from the move.

“Don’t even think to start begging now, Kimmie. You’re on our time,” Shego stated before popping another strawberry in her mouth. She grabbed another and rolled it around Kim’s shielded core again. The action earned whimpers from the younger martial artist. 

“Please…” Kim implored them, sounding almost near tears.

“You’re on our time, Possible,” Bonnie stated, giving a slightly harsh tug to Kim’s nipple as punishment.

Kim screamed a bit, not used to Bonnie being quite that rough with her. It was supposed to be a punishment, after all. Bonnie wanted her to remember that.

Kim wondered if there was any way for her to get them to where she wanted them most. Somehow, she doubted it as they seemed quite intent on punishing her. Maybe apologizing would help. 

“Loves…” Kim hissed as Bonnie nipped her.

“No,” Shego stated soundly. 

“But…”

“No.”

After several minutes of the torment, Bonnie and Shego stepped back to admire their handiwork. Kim was sweating and panting. Her taut body was flushed a bright red. They nodded to each other. She was beautiful.

“Well, I’m out of strawberries, but I still need something to eat,” Shego mused aloud, putting a finger to her chin as if she had no clue what she was going to do.

“Well, can’t let you go hungry, love,” Bonnie commented.

Shego smirked as Bonnie went back into the kitchen. She returned with a couple of new items. One that was very important was a small key. She put the other item on the corner of the table before going to unlock the cuffs.

Kim was not given much of a chance to realize that she was free from her restraints. Shego grabbed the petite redhead as soon as she was free and lifted her out of the chair onto the table. The chair was left with a glistening liquid coating it. Kim yelped as she felt the cool table surface on her heated back. Shego pinned the hero in place. 

“Stay still, meat,” Shego ordered almost harshly. Her words were spoken purposely, trying to clue in the hero as to what was coming next. She thought it would be funny to watch Kim try to decipher why she would say such a thing, but Kim sort of disappointed her. 

Kim’s clouded mind barely registered the command or the words used, but noticed Bonnie come out of nowhere it seemed. Bonnie proceeded to make use of the last item that she brought over, a gravy boat. She started to pour the contents onto Kim’s heaving chest. Of course, the gravy was not hot.

The forgotten audience’s curiosity started getting the better of her. Something very weird was going on. It really seemed like Bonnie and Shego planned to make a meal out of Kim, but Kim did not seem to be objecting to that. Cali was not sure if she should stay out of the way as promised or if she should go help the alpha. They were so damn confusing!

Shego went back on the offensive after Bonnie was done pouring the gravy. She went about licking the gravy off of Kim’s torso, her breasts, her stomach, and she made sure to spend extra time around Kim’s navel. It was a change from the whipped cream, but it certainly was not enough to stop Shego from having her fun. Bonnie watched for a few moments and could not take just standing there for much longer. 

Bonnie turned her attention to Kim’s legs. She gently stroked the powerful limbs, enjoying the feel of the strong muscles under her fingertips. Her hands journey started from going down from the hip to the calf, but with each trip, the length got shorter until she did not even leave the thigh.

The strokes turned into circles for Bonnie to make her way to the inside of Kim’s thigh. She could feel a sleekness she knew was not sweat. Kim shivered as did Bonnie, both anticipating the next logical action. Slender fingers slipped past willing lips to be hugged by smothering heat and welcoming wetness.

Kim arched and whined as Bonnie slipped inside and then retreated. Olive eyes looked down her body, locking with turquoise and imploring mercy. Bonnie shook her head. This was a punishment, after all.

Bonnie watched Kim’s face twist and turn while her fingers leisurely strolled around Kim’s most intimate area, never staying anywhere for long and never venturing where Kim desired more than anything. Bonnie’s expression was intense, yet soft while watching her lover’s visage as it grew more and more frustrated. The lawyer actually felt like laughing in triumph because her plan was working.

Shego took the time to take in Kim’s expression, too, as she finished clearing off all of the gravy. She licked her lips while making sure to keep Kim pinned down. At first, she thought it might not be necessary to hold Kim, but even while experiencing ecstasy, Kim’s subconscious seem to be willing her body to get up. Shego kept her in place, though.

Shego leaned down to Kim’s level. “You’re ours, Princess. Ours,” she whispered to her before dragging her tongue around the shell of Kim’s ear.

Kim whimpered and Shego doubted it was because of her. She glance down to see what Bonnie was doing, knowing her efforts were contributing to Kim trying to get up. Bonnie was placing open-mouth kisses on Kim’s thigh while her hand continued on about its business. Shego found herself halted and staring as Bonnie’s hand moved about Kim’s center. The tanned hand contrasted with the slight red hairs and peach skin. The movement was almost hypnotic. Noticing Kim squirm and moving with the hand was almost unbearable.

“This is us,” Shego murmured. She was not really speaking to anyone, just coming to a realization. This was who they were and they were hot. The sight of Bonnie’s hand caressing Kim made Shego throb.

Shego felt like her pajamas were too tight. She had a desire to press her legs together, but she was not quite in the right position to do that. She was going to go out of her mind if she could not fix that problem. Sure, she understood that it was supposed to be all about Kim, but there was usually a little in it for the other two, too, when they did something like this. Besides, it was time to finish Kim off anyway… or so her begging implied. Hopefully, she learned her lesson.

“Baby…” Kim pled in a desperate whisper. So much delightful touching, but they had yet to give her enough to bring her to climax. She had a feeling they were doing that on purpose. Bonnie ignored the plea.

Shego wanted to speak up, but left Bonnie to her actions. Bonnie seemed to notice that Shego was done after a few moments. She looked up at Shego and could almost read the former thief’s mind. Shego was ready to take things to the next stage. Bonnie licked her fingers clean, silently agreeing with Shego.

The eldest took hold of Kim once more. The redhead could only wonder what was going on now. She was not sure if she would be able to survive another teasing onslaught. She was too weak from the attacks to voice such a concern, though.

Shego did not take Kim too far, just to a rug that they had near the table. She laid Kim down and cut away the last bit of cloth from Kim’s body. Kim just hoped that was a sign they were going to finish what they started.

Kim barely had time to register the somewhat rough fabric of the carpet against her back. And then suddenly, she could feel Bonnie’s form behind her, caressing her shoulders and working her way lower as she pushed Kim onto her side. While that was going on, Shego was suddenly at Kim’s front, warm breasts pressing against Kim’s slick stomach.

Kisses were showered down on Kim’s body from both of her girlfriends. Excitement and delight poured through every nerve in Kim’s being, gushing forth from her most sacred space. She felt like she might drown and take her lovers with her if they kept things up.

The hero called out a combination of Bonnie’s and Shego’s name because they both hit her at the same time. Shego’s lips were suddenly on her, kissing her deeply, her tongue dueling with Kim’s single pearl hidden within her lower treasure. Bonnie’s fingers probed inside, exploring Kim’s intimacy at a steady, but maddeningly slow pace. Shego’s tongue and lips were no better.

Kim tried moving with both of her lovers, but sudden hands on her waist halted all of her movement. Not able to set any kind of rhythm now, Kim found herself needing to move, so she shifted her arms, draping one over her face. She was hiding, either because she did not want them to see how much she was enjoying her “punishment” or because she just needed something to do.

Bonnie’s fingers continued to move at the same rate, occasionally she felt Shego’s tongue slid across her fingers. They were both drenched in Kim’s essence by now and they could tell that she was close. Still, they did not do anything to take Kim to her final destination. 

“Kimmie,” Bonnie whispered into the hero’s ear.

Kim did not respond. It was highly probable that she could not hear Bonnie due to the fact that all of her senses were focused on the activity going on with her lower regions. Bonnie doubted it helped that she moved her free hand to flick Kim’s nipple.

“Kimmie, say something or we’ll stop,” Bonnie said.

That seemed to reach Kim’s brain. “Huh?”

“Good girl. Now, apologize to us for treating us so badly,” Bonnie ordered.

“Apologize?” Kim sounded as if she did not even know what the word meant, so forget knowing how to do it. Hell, she could barely talk right now and was just mimicking words coming out of the attorney’s mouth.

“Yes, apologize. You’ve neglected us and you acted so condescending earlier. So, apologizing or we’ll just keep building on this and getting you nowhere,” Bonnie informed the redhead. 

A sense of dread washed over Kim. The same treatment with no outcome for the whole night? She would die! Pride was immediately swallowed, as was shame.

“I’m sorry,” Kim muttered, almost as if she was close to sobbing.

“Sorry for what?” Shego demanded, taking a moment from her task to look up at Kim. 

“Sorry for neglecting you and for being condescending,” Kim insisted, speaking in a rush. It did not sound like quite the sincere apology, but one of desperation. That was basically what they expected considering her current predicament.

Bonnie and Shego accepted that for the moment, knowing Kim well enough that a better apology was more than likely in their future. They went back to work, more fervently than before. Kim’s body shuddered and shook within seconds, her back arching as a long purr escaped her body. Colors danced before her eyes and she was almost certain she heard a heavenly choir, but she could not be sure. Her chest heaved, but her body finally felt fulfilled.

Bonnie and Shego halted for a few moments to leave Kim to her finish, but they were not done. They continued on, letting Kim ride another rough wave since they thought they might have been a little tough on her. She moaned, shuddered, and sighed through the second one.

“Let’s take this to the bedroom, ladies. The rug is starting to itch,” Bonnie stated.

Shego nodded in agreement with that while Kim did not seem to have the brain capacity to speak anymore. Kim did whine a bit when Bonnie removed her fingers and Shego pulled away from her. Bonnie and Shego climbed to their feet while Kim just remained curled up on the floor, eyes closed and totally relaxed.

The pair looked quite proud of themselves, smirking at each other as if they were demons who just managed to corrupt a particularly pure soul, which they knew was far from the case. Still, it was quite the thing to witness their handiwork, the mighty Kim Possible, unable to stand and just wrapped up in a state of ecstasy they had induced. They had conquered Kim Possible. 

“I don’t think she’s won this round,” Shego remarked, chuckling a little.

Bonnie laughed a bit too and nodded. “I guess she can’t win ‘em all.”

Shego leaned down and picked Kim up. She carried Kim bridal-style to the bedroom, following behind Bonnie. Shego eased Kim down onto the bed and they loomed over the redhead. 

“No more…” Kim entreated in a low voice, seeing the devilish glints in their eyes. She was certain that she would die if they took her again.

“Why not? Let us love you,” Bonnie implored, leaning down to kiss Kim’s forehead. Her hands were already moving to caress the petite hero.

“It’s too much,” Kim replied as Bonnie started to kiss her way down Kim’s body.

“It’s never too much,” Shego stated. Kim whined as her lovers started working on her again. 

-8-8-8-8-

Cali was confused by what she just saw the trio do on the floor. She was not quite sure what it was. She had never seen humans take their clothes off and rub up against each other like that. It was kind of like petting, but she did not see why the humans took off their clothes for it. But, then again, Cali did not totally understand why humans were clothes anyway.

She noted a strong smell coming from them. It was something she only smelled recently while with the trio. She did not know what to make of it and she had wanted to venture closer, but she had promised to remain out of the way. She had a feeling that she had better keep that promise if she wanted to keep her home.

Still, she could not help following the trio as they picked themselves up off of the floor and went to their bedroom. She was curious as to why the alpha had to be carried. Had Bonnie and Shego hurt Kim? She did not appear hurt, but things were still quite curious as far as Cali was concerned.

So, Cali silently trotted after the trio as they went to their bedroom. She made sure to keep out of sight, but got a view of them. They appeared to be doing the same thing on the bed as they had been doing on the floor. They did that for a while, but she was not too good with time, so she could not be sure how long they were at it.

Cali had been tempted to fall asleep, but the noise was too great. Besides, she was still quite intrigued and she wanted some answers. All she got for her trouble, though, was the same noise and musk from before. When those died down, she wondered if they were finished and if it was all right for her to approach. She remained where she was as she heard them starting to talk. 

“So, Kimmie, the world didn’t come to an end after you had wild, freaky sex with us. Surprising isn’t it?” Shego remarked while settling against Kim’s side.

“I didn’t think wild sex with you two would end the world,” Kim replied, her voice a little scratchy.

“Just your world,” Bonnie proposed. She was pressed against Kim’s other side. She had her face buried in Kim’s neck and her hand caressed Kim’s hip.

“Well, it’s not that either. I don’t know what it is. I just figure a lot of the time I’m not in the mood,” Kim replied with a slight shrug. 

“Why? Is it that saving the world is all the excitement you need?” Bonnie offered. She doubted that was it, though. They never had the problem before, after all.

“Of course not!” Kim objected, turning to look both of her lovers in their eyes to make sure that they saw that she meant that response.

“It’s that you’re scared, isn’t it, Possible? You think that somehow your parents are going to find out that you have freaky, insane sex with us and you’ll have to go through all of that bullshit again, aren’t you?” Shego inquired.

Kim was silent for a moment. “I don’t know. I’ve never really thought about it. Maybe that is it. I mean, what would they think if they knew…?” she trailed off, not even wanting to think about that. Her brow furrowed, thinking about what Shego said, wondering if she was afraid of her parents finding out she was prone to doing kinky things.

“Well, first of all, I doubt they’ll be surprised to find out that we have sex. We’re in a relationship, after all,” Bonnie pointed out.

“Next thing, I’m sure they already have some kind of idea about what we do since they found out about me because I had you pressed against the lockers in the school,” Shego added in with a light chuckle. 

“I guess you guys make a point. Maybe that’s it and maybe I’ve just gotten worn out with everything else around us. I really don’t know,” Kim replied with a sigh. She was not sure what turned her into the prude of the bunch and she was not sure how to work her way out of it either. She doubted she would remain that way for long if her lovers pounced her a few more times, though. 

“Well, whatever it is, just remember that you can do anything, especially with and to us,” Bonnie remarked with a sly smile.

Shego chimed in with a grin. “Double the especially on that one. Maybe you’d even like to start tonight.” 

Kim laughed a bit and then yawned. “Maybe tomorrow. I don’t think I can move anymore tonight after what you two did. I think you forgot I had a mission before you went all out.”

Bonnie snickered. “How could we forget? It’s the reason we were able to set all of this up.”

“So, the plan was to wear me out then?” Kim asked. 

“The plan and the punishment,” Shego reminded her.

“Right, right, right.” Kim yawned again. “I’ll return the favor after some sleep.”

Shego and Bonnie could understand Kim’s mindset at the moment. After all, they had both been on the receiving end of being the center of attention. So, they snuggled close, wanting Kim to really feel them there.

“I’m sorry for all of this,” Kim whispered. 

“It’s all right, baby,” Bonnie replied, giving Kim a small, chaste kiss to the lips. 

“Talk to us from now on, Kimmie,” Shego said, even though they all knew Kim could not talk about it until she figured out what held her back in the first place.

“I will…” Kim yawned once more. 

Kim was the first to fall asleep, which was expected. Bonnie and Shego took some time to admire Kim, gently petting her in different places occasionally. They turned their attention for each other for a few minutes.

“You think she’ll be all right?” Bonnie asked. 

“Of course. Once we brought it to her attention, I figured this issue was done,” Shego replied.

Bonnie nodded. “I think it’s a work in progress. Eventually, Kim has to realize she doesn’t need to be perfect with us.”

Shego snorted. “We’re all works in progress, then.”

Bonnie nodded, as that was true. It was one step at a time for all of them. But, they were there for each other and that counted for a lot. Reaching over, she grabbed Shego’s hand and held it. Shego smiled at her.

The silence engulfed the room, coating it like a protective seal. Cali suspected it was finally safe for her to approach. She slowly walked toward the bed, feeling somewhat ill at ease because she knew just being in the room could lead to a reprimand. Luckily, everyone seemed to be asleep and she was able to jump onto the dresser, close to the bed and observe the trio.

The way the trio was curled up together was not something Cali was used to seeing with humans. The way the first alpha slept did involve cuddling, but it was always with other animals, other creations. Dementor had slept alone, even when there were other people around for a while. She had never seen humans huddle together. They sure did look happy, though.

Cali was tempted to flop down on the trio, wanting to be a part of the peaceful group, just wanting to be a part of their lives. She knew sleeping close to them would involve a scolding when one of them, except Kim, woke up. The cat did not want to deal with that, even if the cuddling looked quite invited.

She wondered if Kim being at the center supported the fact that she was the alpha. What happened before that did not make it seem like Kim was the alpha, though. It seemed as if she was at the mercy of Shego and Bonnie. They were so confusing.

Cali shook off the thoughts and made her way to the foot of the bed. She settled onto the end of the bed and looked at the trio once more. Well, maybe she would figure them out tomorrow. She yawned. Yeah, there was always tomorrow.

Just as Cali was about to go to sleep, she noticed a pair of eyes on her. She locked eyes with the other pair of cat-like eyes in the room. She swallowed hard, waiting for the yelling to start and possibly a literal kick out of bed. Instead, the eyes closed and seconds later, Cali’s did the same.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Monique pops up, Bonnie’s got more work stuff to deal with, Shego has several things that annoy her, and Cali proves her worth but might be forced to leave anyway.


	19. 13 Miles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters…except for Cali, Charlie Darrow, and a surprise guest. Everyone else belongs to Disney.

19: 13 Miles

Kim and Shego found themselves surrounded. There was a wall at their back and a crowd at their front. How the hell had _they_ , experienced warriors, allowed that to happen? There was no escape… much to Shego’s dismay. The twitch in her eye seemed like it might be a warning sign she felt a little caged in. Kim did not really mind, but there was some apprehension in her olive eyes.

“Kimmie… what the hell did I do to deserve this?” Shego muttered, speaking out of the side of her mouth, as if she did not want anyone else to hear. She tried to back away just a little more, but her back hit the wall, so she was out of room now. Maybe even out of luck, which did not sit well with her. She appeared a bit nervous, like she wished to run away. 

“You were a great teacher, silly,” Kim remarked, smiling proudly now. 

“Says you. If I was so great, they wouldn’t be crowding us like this,” Shego huffed, folding her arms across her chest. They would fear her if she was a great teacher and they would never think to approach her without her permission, in her opinion anyway. Kim seemed to think the mark of a great teacher meant more enthusiasm than necessary from students and a willingness to ask the teacher anything.

“So, teach, whaddaya say?” one of the students inquired with a hopeful look in her eyes; the expression was mimicked by about half of the mob. The students were the ones crowding around Kim and Shego. It was a mix of both of their classes as well as some parents.

“Do you know how much planning it takes to do a tournament?” Shego replied with a sigh. She sounded tired already. She slumped and dropped her hands to her shins in exhaustion. Just the thought of all of that work made her want to take a nap. If the students were not around, she would be throwing a tantrum right now to keep Kim from agreeing.

“But, a tournament would be cool! Besides, they do it at other schools!” another student shouted with vigor.

“It would be cool, Shego,” Kim concurred, nodding to help back up the idea.

“Oh, no, you don’t! Don’t you even start to get ideas, Pumpkin!” Shego ordered, pointing at her girlfriend. She was well aware that once Kim started thinking on it, her cause to be lazy would be lost. She had no desire whatsoever to set up a tournament of any kind.

“But, it would be so cool, Shego!” Kim countered, preparing to engage the dreaded puppy-dog pout already. She was not in the mood to have an argument over what she felt was a good idea, so she figured she might as well pull out the ultimate weapon early on to just end everything.

Shego was about to say something, thinking she would shut her lover down completely, but she did not get the chance. A distraction came along and saved her the trouble. Cali seemed to wander out of nowhere into the front room of the school; in all truth, she fell out of a vent in another room. She was going to have to learn to be careful when exploring the building next time.

The cat was looking behind her, so she did not totally know what was going on in the main training room. She stumbled just a little bit, dizzy from tumbling out of that vent. She almost ran right into Kim.

“Cali, what’re you doing down here?” Kim inquired as she leaned down and picked up the fluffy, slightly disorientated feline. Cali shook her head and almost fell out of Kim’s arms because her whole body moved with her head. Kim chuckled a little and held onto Cali a little tighter.

“Oh! Cute kitty!” almost every female, and every person under the age of ten, cooed.

Shego would have hugged Cali if it had not been for the crowd. She was just so happy they were all distracted now. She considered inching out of the room, but she did not think that was necessary. Everyone was so distracted by the feline that they had clearly forgotten about what they were just begging for.

Cali was a bit freaked out by all of the sudden attention and people pushing to see her, touch her, and everything. Her eyes were wider than usual and her head pulled back, almost like she was about to pounce, but it was clear that she was more prepared to do the opposite. She had expected all of the people, having smelled them and that was what sparked her curiosity. Seeing so many humans was a bit overwhelming, though. She curled into Kim’s chest, hiding from the humans and knowing that that Kim would protect her if something crazy did happen.

“It’s okay,” Kim whispered to Cali, lightly scratching under the cat’s chin to keep her calm.

“This should be our mascot!” someone suggested brightly.

Shego scoffed loudly. “Like hell I’m making that useless fat cat a mascot of this school,” she declared.

Cali turned to Shego and made a face at her, as much as a cat could make a face at someone. It was sort of a flash of teeth that made Shego think Cali looked ready to spit up a hairball, but she knew that was one of the cat’s many expressions. Shego rolled her eyes and playfully flicked Cali in the nose with her index finger. The cat shook her head and then sneezed, which the crowd thought was too freaking adorable. Shego thought she might go deaf from the horrible “aw” that echoed through the room in unison. She was close to running because of all of the big, gushy eyes that were locked on the lazing feline.

“I’m disowning all of you,” Shego stated in disgust while pointing to their students. She turned her nose up.

Kim was tempted to tease Shego and bring up the fact that just last night _she_ was happily feeding Cali sardines to get the cat to do tricks for her. It was a bit surprising, but Shego taught Cali to roll over and shake just for some sardines. Bonnie had been far from impressed with how well the feline learned such meaningless tricks, especially since food was involved in the learning process. Bonnie was pretty sure Cali could probably be trained to answer their phones if enough fish offered to her.

Kim was surprised Bonnie was the one who disliked Cali. She had been so sure she would have to work on Shego to keep Cali, but Shego seemed fine with it, even though she pretended to be otherwise. Most of the time, she thought Bonnie was pretending, too, but she never caught Bonnie interacting with Cali. No petting, no feeding, no nothing.

“What is going on?” Yori asked as she entered the school and noticed the huge crowd in the back of the front room.

“Come see the cute cat!” a student called to the ninjutsu teacher.

Yori was a bit curious, wondering if it was possible for all of the commotion to be over a little cat. She walked over and peered inside the crowd to see that everyone was focused on Kim, who held a plain calico cat. Yori would not have thought much more on it, but lingering for a moment caused her to arch an eyebrow.

“This cat has a strange aura,” Yori commented as she stepped closer for a better inspection. She put her hand to her chin while examining the feline. There was something just not quite right about this cat, but she could not figure it out.

“She’s a strange cat,” Shego remarked, rolling her eyes as if she was upset with the visiting feline. She shot Cali a frown and Cali hissed in return.

“Well, beyond that. Surely you realize her aura is just weird,” Yori said, looking between Kim and Shego. She settled her gaze on Shego, knowing the older woman would understand her more so than Kim. The thought was held nothing against Kim, but the hero just trained herself more so than any real master and Yori noticed Kim was not as adapt at detecting auras.

“It’s nothing. She’s just a fat, lazy cat,” Shego replied, dismissing the matter with a wave of her hand. She noted a while ago that Cali gave off weird vibes, but she did not think anything of it after spending sometime around the small beast. Cali seemed to just be a weird cat.

“Are you sure? I mean, there’s something about this thing,” Yori said, leaning down to examine Cali more.

The feline continued to hide in Kim’s shoulder, but she glanced at the ninja. She bared her teeth for a moment. She leaned over to Yori and swiped at her to make the Japanese woman back up. The move did not work and Yori laughed a bit, even though she could tell the cat was quite serious in that attack. She reached out and scratched Cali’s ears.

At first, Cali recoiled from the foreign touch, but she noticed Kim was not pulling her away, which to her meant that Yori was not a danger. After that, she decided to take in the petting and noticed Yori had a gentle touch. She purred slightly from the attention that she was getting from the ninja.

“Hopefully, you will bring us luck,” Yori said to the pet. She thought the energy coming from the feline was odd, but it did not feel threatening. She supposed that was all right and she could figure out what was going on later on.

“Of course Cali will bring us luck. She’s quite the good cat,” Kim declared, hugging the fluffy kitty to her body.

“This is your pet?” Yori asked curiously, eyes focused on her friend now.

“She’s the new school mascot!” one of Kim’s students declared.

“Is she?” the kunoichi (female ninja) inquired, looking toward her fellow teachers for a response.

“Cali is getting out is what she’s doing. Go take her back upstairs, Kimmie,” Shego ordered.

“She’ll just come back down here if she wants to,” Kim pointed out. “Besides, most of my kids are here.”

Shego conceded that point and just waved it off. Her girlfriend could do whatever with Cali as far as Shego was concerned now. Kim took Cali upstairs to her level for class and just let the cat wander. Cali went to a corner by the window and fell asleep while Kim taught her classes and her students did not bother the cat. Shego did not say anything about the cat being around because Cali did not get in the way. It was a rather quiet day at the school for once.

-8-8-8-8-

Bonnie sat at her desk, preparing for a case. She leaned back in her chair with a book in her lap and her shoes off. She found she researched best without her shoes on for some reason, even if they were very comfortable shoes. Her bare feet brushed against the throw rug underneath her desk.

There was some soft music playing from her laptop, which was open on her desk. She was not using the computer beyond the purposes of playing music and wiggling her toes to the classical tunes. The phone ringing disturbed her peaceful studying. She sighed, but answered, hoping someone she would not mind talking to would be on the other end.

“Hello,” an annoyingly familiar voice greeted the attorney. _Wish not granted apparently_ , the lawyer thought. But, then again, she knew it was wrong to hope most of the time.

“Heather,” Bonnie deadpanned. What did she have to do to be rid of this woman? Whatever it was, she would do it in a heartbeat.

“It’s good to hear your voice again,” the starlet seemed to coo as she spoke.

“Heather, I thought it was agreed that you’d find another lawyer. You’re aware of my situation and your pretense is up. Why do you want to keep playing this game?” Bonnie inquired in quite the baffled tone. She put her hand to her forehead, trying to fight off a headache that was coming. 

“Well, I like your style. I think you would represent my interests best.”

“Then don’t you think it would be a good idea for you to stop trying to harass me? You already know I have a girlfriend,” Bonnie pointed out bluntly. After all, Shego had threatened Heather not too long ago and was rather blatant in making it clear that Bonnie was her girlfriend. What more did the actress need to know that she was fighting a losing battle? _Maybe I should tell her I have two girlfriends. But, then again, that doesn’t really make me seem double unavailable_. Heather would probably take it as Bonnie being open to having even more partners.

“I’m not trying to harass you. I’m trying to keep you as my lawyer,” Heather argued.

Bonnie rolled her eyes and scoffed under her breath. She really did not want to bother with the actress. Before she was able to even think of a lie, or even just tell the truth, she was given an excuse to hang up on the troublesome redhead. She noticed a light flashing on her phone, alerting her to another call.

“Heather, I’ve got an important business call. I have to take this. Goodbye,” Bonnie ended the call before Heather could respond. She clicked over to the next call. “Bonnie Rockwaller’s office, Bonnie speaking.” 

“Hey, girlfriend,” the cheerful cadence of Monique’s voice rang into Bonnie’s ear.

“Hey,” Bonnie replied, almost as if she was confused. Her face scrunched up a little. She was not expecting to hear from Monique and her stomach flipped a little as a horrible thought went through her mind. “I hope to God you don’t need a lawyer, Mo.”

Monique laughed. “You should know better than that. Is that really the first thing that comes to your mind when your friends call?”

Bonnie sighed and then forced out a chuckle. “My girls are kind of conditioning me for this.”

“I feel like I need to talk to them if that’s the case, especially Kim. She’s letting Shego influence her like that?”

Bonnie snorted. “Kim’s being her usual self, but in unusual places.”

“I’m sure you’ll keep them in line. But, you don’t have to worry about me yet. I never get into more trouble than I can single-handedly get myself out of. Nah, I’m calling because we need to hang out sometime soon. I mean, I’ve been in Middleton since your little housewarming and we haven’t emptied a store yet. What the hell is up with that?”

The attorney had to laugh at that. “I don’t know if you haven’t been paying attention to the news, which seems to broadcast my life a little more than I like, but I have been busy. My world-saving girlfriend _did_ almost get sent to jail for assault not too long ago, after all.”

“Hey, you know life was going to get crazy the moment you hooked up with my girl. But, seriously, you need to bring your ass with me to some outlets. We need to take Kim and Shego, too. You all need to do some relaxing,” Monique argued in her usual friendly and energetic way.

“I need to get some work done that doesn’t involve someone I go to bed with every night,” Bonnie countered with a bit of a sigh and she slumped in her chair slightly. She was willing to bet it would be nice and relaxing to just go on a shopping spree with her girlfriends and Monique, but she really needed to get some work done before a partner at the firm came up with an excuse to fire her.

“It’s always something with you or Kim. I figure hanging out with you would be easier since I don’t have to worry about you leaving in the middle of a fitting to go save the world. Now, you’re just killing my joy,” Monique teasingly complained.

“Yes, because my whole life revolves around killing your joy,” Bonnie commented sarcastically.

“I’ll bet. You need a new whipping girl now that you’re bedding Kim.”

A smirk settled on Bonnie’s face before she realized it. “What makes you think I still don’t whip Possible?” Those words were out of her mouth before she realized it, too.

“T.M.I,” Monique replied.

Bonnie chuckled a bit because that took her back. The funny thing was that it took her back to a time she would rather forget. Monique rarely spoke in acronyms or text speech anymore. It was seen as childish by a lot of people and unprofessional, so Monique worked herself out of it once she graduated from college.

Hearing it now reminded Bonnie of back when they were in high school. Back before Monique was even her friend, back before Kim knew she loved her, back before she knew she loved Kim, and back when she still wanted acceptance from her family. In other words, back when she was miserable. She shook those thoughts away. They were behind her now.

“Seriously, I’m bored and I have free time. I want to have some fun with my pals while I’m here. Do you know how rude it would be if you leave me hanging like this?” Monique inquired.

“I’m sorry, Mo, you must be mistaking me for a woman that gives a damn and isn’t a bitch,” Bonnie teased, smiling a bit as she spoke.

“Yeah, what was I thinking?” Monique said, mockingly admonishing herself. “At least let me meet up with you for lunch.”

“I usually have lunch with Kim and Shego, but I’m sure they won’t mind you being around.” Kim would probably love to see one of her dear friends without the press or a courtroom being involved.

“Yeah, just tell them I don’t put out on the first date,” Monique joked.

“Please, you’re not hot enough for us anyway.”

Monique scoffed. “More like I’m too hot for you. Call me with the when and where so I can meet up with you.”

“I’ll come and pick you up. I’ll call you when I’m on the way.”

Monique agreed with that and the two hung up. Bonnie smiled a bit to herself while turning her attention back to her law book. The expression came from the thought of just having a friend. Sure, she got the friend from dating Kim, but still, Monique was her friend now as much as she was Kim’s friend and it was a good feeling to have a true friend.

Bonnie went back to reading, but was quite happy when lunchtime came around. She closed the book, put her shoes back on, and pulled out her cell phone to let Monique know she was on the way. She was in such a good mood that she ignored all of the sour looks she continued to get from colleagues without even thinking anything badly about them for once.

-8-8-8-8-

“Hey, you got here pretty quickly,” Monique commented as she climbed into Bonnie’s car.

“I work about four blocks from here,” Bonnie replied, pointing behind her with her thumb, indicating what direction she came from.

Monique’s mouth dropped open in disbelief. “You’re kidding me!”

“Nope. Right around the corner.”

“Girl, you shouldn’t have told me that. I’m coming up to your job and bugging the hell out of you while I’m here,” Monique remarked with a good-natured smile.

“Don’t you have other things to do with your life?” Bonnie inquired with a deadpan expression on her face. She would actually prefer that Monique stay the hell away from her job considering the way the men seemed to ogle anything with tits that stepped off of the elevator. She did not want Monique to go through that and she did not want Monique to see what she had to put with.

“Nope!” Monique grinned almost proudly. “I’m on a somewhat extended vacation until I get a call telling me to bring my ass back to work.”

Bonnie have her a leveled look. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope. I said I had a family emergency when you guys called me for the house party and the boss told me to take care of things and just wait for him to call me. He hasn’t called yet, except to make sure my family emergency wasn’t too serious and to tell me that he would call when he needed me,” Monique explained. It was not the first time she was given such time off, so she did not worry she was secretly being fired or anything like that. She just knew to wait for a call that she suspected would be coming soon enough.

“Your job is fucking sweet,” Bonnie commented with some envy in her voice. At this point in her career, she imagined she would be laughed out of her boss’ office if she said she had a family emergency. It would be funny all the way up until Shego decided to go up there, anyway. There certainly would be an emergency at that point.

“You don’t know the half of it, babe,” Monique quipped with a charming smile and a wink.

Bonnie rolled her eyes and they set off to meet her girlfriends for lunch. Kim was quite happy to see Monique and grabbed her into a crushing hug the moment she noticed her fashion-conscience friend. They exchanged kisses on the cheek, real kisses, not air ones. Shego actually tensed from the show of affection until Bonnie took her hand.

“Calm down, love. They’re good friends,” Bonnie said in a low tone, recognizing Shego’s jealousy almost immediately.

Shego turned her nose up, as if that offended her. Bonnie thought it was funny and latched onto Shego without shame. Shego sighed and put her arm around Bonnie while Kim and Monique finally released each other.

“I’m so happy to see you,” Kim said with a bright grin. She patted Monique on the arm, as if needing to make contact with her again to make sure she was real.

“I’m happy to see you, too. The best thing is that you’re not wearing that horrible orange jumpsuit, which you would’ve been if you didn’t have Bonnie in your corner. I mean, that color does nothing for you. It wouldn’t even match your hair,” Monique remarked with a teasing smile. She flicked Kim’s mane with a couple of fingers.

“It’s a good thing I have Bonnie then,” Kim replied.

Monique looked at Bonnie. “Yeah, it is.”

Kim only smiled as the group walked into the restaurant that they were going to have lunch in. They were seated quickly and ordered drinks. They got into a conversation thanks to Monique bringing up how she wanted to go shopping sometime soon with them. They were all in agreement with that, but they needed to find the time.

“We definitely need to do that instead of this stupid tournament idea our maniacs won’t stop bugging us about,” Shego commented.

“Why are you so against the tournament idea?” Kim inquired, even though she could guess. Of all the character traits Shego picked up from her mother, she certainly got her ambition, or lack there of, from her father. She often wondered how Isabel even managed to teach Shego anything, even though she suspected the lessons involved a lot of screaming and hitting that had nothing to do with martial arts.

“Because she won’t get to sleep through it or read a magazine while it’s going on,” Bonnie teased.

“I bet if we did an intermission where you got to play pinball you wouldn’t mind,” Kim added, smiling wickedly at the eldest amongst them. She leaned on the table and looked smugly across at the eldest.

“Screw both of you,” Shego retorted, turning her nose up at her girlfriends.

“Please, not while I’m at the table,” Monique joked.

“Don’t worry. These two have problems with public sexual displays for some reason,” Shego commented with a snort, as if that disgusted her. She dismissed her girlfriends with a wave of her hand.

“Thank god for small favors,” Monique replied with a laugh.

“You knew that already,” Kim pretended to sneer at her friend.

“I was always thankful for it,” Monique continued on.

Shego realized Monique had an insight she did not. Monique knew about Kim and Bonnie when it was just them, when they were just a couple. Part of her was curious to find out more. Kim and Bonnie did not speak about that time very often in her company, at least not seriously.

“You went to college with them?” Shego asked Monique. She knew they had all gone to high school together. The waiter came back with their drinks, thankfully missing the other part of their conversation. They ordered food and then went right back to their discussion.

Monique shook her head. “No, I didn’t go to college with them. Their school didn’t have a good fashion program, but I saw these two every vacation. Bonnie used to have hearts in her eyes.”

Bonnie feigned growling. “I did not!”

“You did. Kim didn’t notice because she and Ron were just so happy to be back together,” Monique replied.

Kim scoffed. “Now you’re just making stuff up.”

Monique laughed. “What do you want to know, Shego?” she asked with a smirk, as if she planned to embarrass her friends. Shego could not resist.

“Everything,” Shego answered with a smirk of her own.

Kim and Bonnie groaned while Monique started to dish. Shego leaned her chin on one hand, like Monique had her undivided attention. Monique had mercy on them, though. She told a couple of stories, but nothing really deep. Kim and Bonnie chimed in plenty of times.

The group went back and forth in such a manner for the whole lunch. After lunch, they all went about their business. Bonnie kindly drove Monique back home while Kim and Shego returned to their school. The martial artists checked to see if Yori was in, but for once, they had beaten her in.

“You know, it’s nice to be the only ones in here for once,” Shego commented as she backed Kim up into a wall. It happened so suddenly that Kim did not realize what was going on until her back was against the wall and she saw the predatory smirk on her lover’s face.

“Shego, we’re not going to be the only ones here for long,” Kim pointed out, glancing around to see how trapped she was. Shego had her arms out to the sides of Kim and she was pressed quite close to the redhead. The hero’s exits were all cut off.

“So? For now we’re the only ones here,” Shego stated with a smirk.

Shego slowly leaned down, planning to capture Kim’s lips with her own. But, she heard the door opening and knew their time alone was done already. She sucked her teeth and pulled away. Kim chuckled a bit, obviously amused by how quickly her lover had been thwarted.

“This isn’t over,” Shego growled, glaring at Kim, who smiled.

“We interrupting something?” Ron asked with teasing grin as he watched Shego tear herself away from the cornered Kim.

“How about you wipe that expression off your face before I rip it off?” Shego suggested, holding up her clawed right hand.

The grin dropped. “No sense of humor,” he grumbled, folding his arms across his chest and a frown worked its way onto his face. “But, then again, I’d be cranky, too, if I wasn’t getting any,” he added with a slight smile on his face now. He could not help himself. The situation was just too good.

“Who’s not getting any?” Shego demanded. “You wish you could see what goes on in my bed,” she declared with a smug look on her face.

Ron was speechless for a moment. He had to admit that she was not lying there. But, then again, he dared to wonder what straight male would not like a peek inside a lesbian trio’s bedroom? None that he could think of. A side glance from Yori did seem to wipe his mind of all those thoughts, though. He shot the love of his life a wide, easygoing grin that usually got him out of trouble.

“Shouldn’t you be leaving now, Ron-kun? I would not want you to be late for work,” Yori commented with some atypical grit in her tone and a glare in her eyes that Ron was pretty sure he had never seen before. 

Ron took the hint and continued to grin, some nervousness in the expression now. He leaned over and kissed Yori’s cheek, very close to her mouth. He bid his good friend and her cranky girlfriend farewell and took his leave. Yori turned her attention to the two teachers.

“How was your lunch?” the ninja inquired in her usual polite tone, despite the fact that Shego had just gotten into it with her boyfriend. She noticed they went back and forth whenever they were in the same room until Shego said something particularly snippy and shut Ron up. She supposed this came from the days when they were enemies.

“Same as always. We did talk about this thing that the students keep bringing up,” Kim replied.

“You mean the tournament? I think it is a good idea,” Yori said, which was pretty much the same thing that Kim thought. The three of them had spoken about it very briefly after Yori found out the original reason for the crowd that morning.

“See, Shego, Yori thinks it’s a good idea and I think it’s a good idea. We should just go through with it,” Kim argued, looking at her lover.

“I’m not setting up a tournament,” Shego stated bluntly, folding her arms across her chest. She was not changing her mind. There was just no way in hell she was going to let them rope her into a tournament.

“You don’t have to set it up! We can do that!” Kim motioned between herself and Yori. The kunoichi nodded eagerly in agreement.

“I don’t want to judge a tournament either,” Shego informed them to show she would not be beaten. There was a glint of steel in her eyes. She would not be moved.

Kim was about to propose once again that she and Yori could take care of that, but she stopped herself. She and Yori looked at each other. They could not judge on their own. It was best to have an odd number of judges to avoid any ties. They would need Shego to do at least that little bit of work. Besides, she judged all the time. It was how she corrected students.

“Shego-san, you cannot be serious, can you?” Yori asked, squinting from some confusion because she just did not understand this stubborn streak in the older woman. She did not see why Shego would not judge a tournament. They all enjoyed watching their students work, after all.

“I’m very serious,” Shego answered soundly.

“Now you’re just being difficult,” Kim complained with a slight frown.

“So what if I am?” Shego replied like the brat she could be when she put her mind to it.

“Then we shall have to use our secret weapon,” Yori said darkly with determination.

Shego’s curiosity was caught like a trout on a line. She craned an eyebrow and looked between her lover and the ninja. What secret weapon could those two possibly have?

Kim seemed to know just what the ninja was talking about without even having to make eye contact. Her eyes got wide and her bottom lip started to tremble. Shego backed up in sheer horror.

“No, no, no! Foul! You can _not_ use the puppy-dog pout at work!” Shego protested loudly while turning her back on the whole situation. If she could not see it, maybe it could not work.

Kim merely moved to where Shego could see her pouting. Shego continued retreating, needing to get away. There should be a law against that thing! Shego decided once this was all said and done, she would have to set rules about that stupid pout.

Yori had to hold in a laugh, but she ended up smiling from her amusement. The pair’s lack of restraint when in each other’s presence amazed her much of the time. She wondered if she would ever be that comfortable around anyone. Yes, even with Ron, she often found herself being proper and conservative, to the point it affected him in calming down a lot of the time. She supposed that was a good thing, but one day, maybe she would be able to let loose, as soon as she learned how maybe.

The lovers’ antics were cut short as the students began arriving for their afternoon classes. Shego was saved once again. The teachers parted ways, but before leaving, Kim and Yori gave Shego a look to let her know the debate on a tournament was not over yet. Shego rolled her eyes, as if she was letting them know she would not be defeated on the issue, even if she was outnumbered. She just needed to prepare herself the next time it came up because there would probably be another puppy-dog pout.

Kim went upstairs to find Cali still lounging about the classroom, lying on her back in the corner on one of the mats. She did not bother to wake the cat. Her students took care of that for her, charging in with the energy expected of kids who just got out of school. They noticed Cali immediately and rushed over to her.

“Kitty!” they all screamed and Cali practically jumped out of her skin.

Kim gave the kids a few moments to gawk over the feline, who did not seem to be a fan of the attention considering the way she kept backing away from them. It did not help that the children had woken Cali out of her sleep, shocking as well as scaring the cat for a few awkward moments.

Cali certainly was not happy to wake up to find herself surrounded by a bunch of little humans, especially humans that kept following her around. She eventually trotted over to Kim, feeling safe behind her. She curled up around the redhead’s ankles. Kim laughed a bit and wondered if the fact that her cat was a stray had anything to do with the way she panicked around people.

“Okay, guys, it’s time to get this lesson. Leave the cat alone,” the hero commanded in a somewhat gentle tone. She liked to be stern with her students, but understood they were little children. She never wanted to repeat the time when she “coached” her brothers’ soccer team.

Her students wasted no time listening to her and she went into her lessons. Cali returned to her nap. She liked being able to laze around without having to hear any yelling, as long as she was not sleeping in the way of something anyway. Things were never this good, even with the first alpha.

After a while, Cali got up and walked out of the room, as if it was something that she scheduled from the way she left. Kim did not think anything of it, but laughed on the inside. Cali was a cat and they did as the pleased, after all.

Cali went sniffing around the school. There was an odd scent hanging in the air that had her attention. It lingered for a couple of days, but she could never place it. She tried hunting it down the last time she smelled it. Now, she continued the search.

The feline wandered through Shego’s class, earning a lingering look from the pale woman, but nothing more. Her class also watched Cali, but no one broke from their lines. Cali also strolled through Yori’s class. The ninja watched her carefully, a perplexed look clouding Yori’s ebony eyes, but she did not say anything.

Cali was not sure what the smell was that grabbed her, but she continued seeking it out. She ended up at a window and hopped out into the alley at the side of the school. She walked off, trying to find the scent hung around the school. It seemed to be in retreat, but Cali was in no mood to give up on the matter. She followed it as best she could.

-8-8-8-8-

Hours later, Cali trekked back home. She was unsuccessful in her hunt. She marched up to the door and was hit with a sudden realization. There was no cat-flap.

The feline looked around and saw that the street was empty. She turned her eyes down to her paw. She focused on it and then placed it on the door. She pushed with all of her might. Surprise, surprise, the door remained right where it was. She was willing to bet that it was one of those “pull” doors. Damn those pull doors!

Cali settled down and eyed the door as if she was trying to solve the puzzle. There had to be a way inside. She eyed her paw again. Hmm…

“Hey, furball, what’re you doing out here?” Bonnie inquired as she shut the door of her car. She parked in front of the building as she typically did. She could only wonder why their supposed-to-be-gone pet was outside. Somehow she doubted Kim and Shego finally kicked the cat out.

Cali backed up as Bonnie approached. Bonnie frowned down at the cat and then she pulled the door open. Bonnie did not go inside. Instead, she held the door open.

“Are you coming in or just staying out here?” Bonnie huffed, speaking to the cat. 

Cali quickly trotted inside. Bonnie followed and closed the door behind her. She locked the front door, using a keypad and a key, knowing all of the students were gone from the place. Anyone else still inside knew how to get out without keys or had their own keys along with the code.

Bonnie went straight upstairs. She wanted to get out of her work clothes and into a hot shower. Cali followed her, returning to the apartment the easy way. Of course, she could have gotten there other ways, just like she ended up getting out of the apartment earlier, but it was best to take the elevator. Besides, Bonnie was being nice to her for the first time and she was going to take it while she could get it.

Bonnie acted as if she did not even know the cat was there, though. She stepped off of the elevator and into the narrow hallway that blocked off their living space from the elevator; none of them had been in favor of the idea of the elevator opening into their home, even though there was a code that had to be put in to take the elevator to the top floor anyway. Cali trotted behind Bonnie as she opened the door to the apartment and they parted ways.

Cali went over to her food bowl, hoping to find something there. Now, she had eaten everything that morning and she had eaten everything Kim put out before lunch, so it would have been more a surprise for food to be in the bowl than the fact that it was empty. She turned toward the bathroom and wondered if she could get Bonnie to give her food. It was worth a shot.

The feline went toward the bathroom. She pushed on the door a little and found it open. The door groaned softly as it opened for the cat. She stepped back, as if she was shocked, and then marched forward. A frightening sound crashed against her ears, though. Bonnie was in the dreaded shower.

Cali hissed and backed out of the bathroom, which was easily her least favorite room in the apartment, too much water. She went back to her empty bowl and stared at it, like she was trying to will food to show up. She was a bit surprised as tuna suddenly landed in the dish after a few minutes of just watching. Was it raining tuna? Such a delightful possibility!

The cat turned her head to see Kim pouring the fish into her bowl. Kim grinned down at the feline and caressed her small head for a moment. Cali was ready to milk the affection from Kim, but then she noticed water being poured into her other dish. She looked over at Shego, who noticed and rolled her eyes as if she did not care about the cat.

“See? You have people here to take care of you,” Kim commented with a smile as she caressed the kitty’s head again. 

Cali purred and rolled over onto her back, wanting her belly rubbed, too. Kim obliged and sat down on the floor, just having fun with their pet. Shego snorted and shook her head, as if she disapproved of the scene.

“You’re just spoiling her, which is why she’s getting fat now,” Shego commented. 

“She’s not fat and you’re supposed to play with pets,” Kim replied.

“Giving into her every whim counts as playing?”

Kim smirked. “I dunno. You tell me.”

Shego sucked her teeth and decided she had enough of this. She then went to beat up on the pinball machine, like she usually did when they first came into the house. 

Eventually, every member of the household gathered in the living room for their usual time together. Cali had found a place in this ritual, lying on the floor next to the couch while her humans lay on the sofa as they usually did. She curled up in a place that put her in the perfect position to be petted by Kim or Shego, though more especially Shego because she often got too lazy to hold her arm up and just let it drop the side.

“Should we watch a movie?” Bonnie pondered aloud.

“You mean after your stories?” Kim teased, finger drawing a circle on Bonnie’s back.

“Uh, yeah, doy,” Shego chimed in.

Bonnie chuckled. “You love this storyline, don’t you, love?”

Shego snorted. “It’s not as stupid as the others. Now, stop talking through it.” She playfully pinched Kim’s side, causing the hero to yelp.

Kim turned, trying to glare at Shego as best she could, but it was hard when she was about to break her neck just to see Shego. She could make out an innocent smile on the ex-thief’s face. Sighing, Kim settled back into her spot.

The night was quiet and relaxing. The television played a show, but no one paid much attention. They cuddled, caressed, and enjoyed their time together. They always thought it would not last long, so they made it a point to revel in their time whenever they had it. Besides, they still remembered the dark times of when they were homeless and had no sofa of their own to snuggle on.

Cali sniffing the air took away from the silence for a moment. She got up and trotted off suddenly. Shego and Kim watched her go and then looked at each other.

“Eh, she’s a cat. They always have secrets and shit like that,” Shego said dismissively.

Kim accepted that and turned her focus back onto her girlfriends rather than their pet. Cali was always off into something, which was how she made it downstairs in the first place. Much of the time, Cali’s exploring was not unnoticed. Every now and then, she did get caught into something that required assistance and she cried loud enough for someone to go help.

“If she gets stuck in another pipe, I’m not getting her out,” Shego suddenly said. She was comfortable, so she was not moving, especially because the stupid cat was stupid.

“She’s Kimmie’s cat,” Bonnie pointed out.

“Aw, Shego’s taller than I am and that’s why she could get Cali before. I’ll save her if necessary,” Kim declared.

“You said that last time,” Shego pointed out, just to be annoying.

“I just said you’re taller than I am. If she gets caught somewhere that I can get her, I will get her. Besides, you know you didn’t mind getting her. You like her, too,” Kim teased, a cat-like grin on her face.

“Like hell I do,” Shego huffed. She wished she could fold her arms across her chest, but Kim was currently lying on her. So, she settled for pinching Kim again.

Kim yelped. “You’re just in a contradictory mood today, huh?” she inquired with a smile still gracing her features, showing that pinching would not stop her.

“You’re just annoying me more so than usual today. If you noticed, I’ve been quite nice to the Duchess,” Shego pointed out while reaching up and caressing the back of the top of their pile.

“Very nice,” Bonnie purred as magic fingers touched the small of her back and rubbed her in just the way that she liked. The wonderful fingers displaced her dark blue camisole, but she could not care less about that.

Kim rolled her eyes while Bonnie’s content purring vibrated into her chest. The pulsing movement made olive green eyes close and a sigh escaped her lips. Bonnie smiled a bit, noticing the affect she and Shego had on Kim. Bonnie moved up a bit and placed a small kiss on Kim’s mouth. Cali was forgotten for the moment.

-8-8-8-8-

Cali was busy with her own kitty mission. She had that scent again and it bothered her. It was quite the strange smell. She had never smelled it before today and she really wanted to find out what it was. She made her way to the roof and stalked through her beloved garden. Yeah, she was so comfortable in the house that she now claimed the garden as hers, especially since she was pretty sure she would get to stay. 

The smell was even more powerful to Cali’s nose. She trotted to the edge of the building and looked around. There was a river of pavement three stories below her and she would really like to get across, unfortunately she could not fly. The smell now wafted from across the way, though.

The feline huffed and turned around. She ran off, back into the building. She had to figure out a way outside, one that would not leave her stranded and locked out again like before.

Cali returned to the living room, panting and upset from what her owners could tell. There seemed like there was a frown on her little kitty face. She flopped down back in the space she had abandoned before. She sighed as a hand started petting her. She could tell that it was Kim’s hand. Shego and Kim had styles of petting as far as Cali would tell. Shego’s pets had more nail, almost like scratching, while Kim’s all fingers. Cali loved both styles. Her purrs soon filled the air, joining Bonnie’s purrs.

-*-(New day)-*-

Bonnie sat in her office with her shoes off and a law book in her lap. Music played again from her computer. It was surprisingly gangsta rap music. Most of the time, it was what she listened to when she studied, even before she turned into a lawyer. Back when they were in college, Kim would always ask her how she could concentrate with such music blaring through the speakers. She was not sure how or why, but she did it easily. For some reason, it calmed her.

She jotted down some notes on a pad resting on her desk while continuing on with her business. The phone ringing interrupted her flow, clashing with her music and causing her to flinch ever so slightly from the sudden noise. She growled in annoyance and turned her attention to her phone. She wished that she had an assistant or secretary to answer the damn thing, but she would probably never climb high enough in this firm for that to happen. She picked up the phone and answered with a snarl, stating her name.

“Bonnie Rockwaller speaking,” she growled.

“Wow, Miss Rockwaller, I hope you don’t always answer your phone with such hostility,” her boss, Charlie Darrow, commented seriously.

Bonnie gulped. “Uh, of course not, sir.” _Damn it. Can I get fired over that?_ If her last job had taught her nothing, she could get fired over anything. _I really need to come up with a plan B_.

“Oh, so you just reserved it for me. How nice,” he remarked dryly.

“I can see why you’re Shego’s main attorney,” Bonnie commented under her breath. She was also glad to know Shego got on his nerves with the way he was treating her at the moment.

“And I can see why you’re with her.”

That comment was met with silence. Bonnie knew Shego would tell anyone who asked they were dating, but Bonnie disliked acknowledging it when it was brought up. Not out of shame or anything of that nature. It just bothered her when people seemed to throw things into her face like he did. Her relationship was not a joke or an insult and she hated for it to be used in such a way, so she thought it was best not to even acknowledge the gag. _Besides, I need this job_.

“You live with Shego, don’t you?” he inquired after the silence began to irk him. She could hear the annoyance in her voice, like it was her fault.

“What does it matter to you?” she countered in her own annoyed tone. Yes, he was her boss and everything, but she had to keep some self-respect now. Plus, he called her. What was up with everyone at this place acting like everything bad was her fault? _I need this job, but I don’t need the headache and I damn sure don’t need an ulcer_.

“I don’t feel like interacting with her at the moment. Can I trust you to deliver a message?” he requested, as much as a boss could request something from an employee.

“Sir, you have to realize how unprofessional this is. You’re asking me to mix business with my personal life. It’s not something I’m interested in doing,” she replied in a deadpan tone. _This place is really trying to make me go crazy_.

“Well, your entire being here is a mix of business and personal life, isn’t it?” he said in a very matter-of-fact voice.

Bonnie scowled and was very close to saying “fuck you” to her boss, but figured that would be bad for her career. Still, there were so many unprofessional things going on in the firm directed toward her that it was starting to get to the point that she was going to have to say something exceptionally harsh to someone, boss or not. She frowned as she tried to figure out what to say that would not cost her a very good job. _Yeah, I definitely need a plan B_.

“Look, I think this is horrible of you to do. I know you think poorly of me and probably always will while I’m here. But, I’m not going to take just anything like everyone here seems to think I will. This is just too much,” Bonnie huffed.

“Everyone seems to think you will?” he echoed as if he was puzzled.

“I see. Now, you’re going to act like you don’t know about any of it. Shego has been here and you are representing her. So, don’t pretend to not know anything.”

Charlie was silent for a moment and she felt pretty good for calling him on his bullshit. She was not _everything_ wrong with the firm like they wanted her to believe. None of them were angels.

“I will apologize for Lyle’s behavior. He acts like he doesn’t have the good sense to know he’s not God’s gift to women. If something like this occurs again, I would thank you to inform myself or any other named partner. We won’t stand for this sort of thing in our firm,” he finally said.

 _Oh, please. Lyle is probably someone’s nephew or bastard or something_. There was no way in hell anything would happen to him. He already had it in his head that he could get away with his behavior, which was probably because he had been getting away with it. There was no way she was the first person he harassed in the firm.

“Is this the message I should be delivering?” she inquired dryly, almost curtly, but she kept in mind that he was her boss. It was a brilliant speech, but she felt more like she was being given lip service because the harassment was reported. She would rather not be spoken to in such a manner.

“No, this is a message to you. If he or anyone else treats you in such a manner, let me know. I won’t stand for this. This is a respectable firm,” he stated soundly, as if he was on a soapbox.

Bonnie rolled her eyes, even though her place of work was just what Darrow said it was. Well, no, she supposed that “respectable” and “famous” were not the same thing and should not be mistaken as such. Yes, many people respected the firm because it was well known, but that did not mean the conduct of the people inside were respectable.

“Is that all?” Bonnie inquired, sounding quite disinterested on purpose. “I have been trying to prepare for a case,” she reminded him. She supposed she could use him as an excuse if she lost, but she doubted that would go over well and she did not like to lose anyway.

“Oh, that’s right. I suppose I can deliver the message to Shego.”

“Good to know. Thank you for that,” she said almost sarcastically. In her opinion, it should not have been an issue. He should have called Shego first and left things at that. _Jackass_ , she thought venomously.

The pair disconnected their call. Bonnie turned her attention back to her work only to be disturbed by her phone again. She growled in irritation as she picked up the phone. She answered with a better disposition than the last time, just in case. She immediately wished she had been more hostile when she found out who was on the line.

“Hello, Bonnie,” Heather said.

“Yes, Heather?” Bonnie sighed. Seriously, what had she done this life that was so wrong she was cursed to be hounded by this wretched woman? She doubted she would ever know.

“I was wondering if we could meet for lunch.”

Groaning, Bonnie massaged her temple with one hand. “I don’t think that’s possible.”

“Why not?” the actress inquired, nearly whining, but she caught herself.

Bonnie had to go through an ordeal with the redhead on the phone as Heather tried to get her to go on a lunch date. Her brow wrinkled as frustration quickly set in from going back and forth with the starlet. She was ready to curse Heather out, but controlled herself because Heather was a client for the moment. She was going to try her damnedest to find someone else to represent the actress as soon as she had the time for it, though.

Bonnie’s attention was taken from the phone call as she heard her office door open. She was stunned to see Monique walk in. Monique was about to say something, but she saw Bonnie was on the phone. Instead of talking, Monique decided to look around. She nodded in approval with the office décor, even though she suspected that it was a work in progress. After all, her girl Bonnie liked to do things big.

“Look, Heather, I have to go. Another client just walked in,” Bonnie lied and she hung up before Heather could say anything else.

“Lying to a paying customer? Not the Bonnie I know and get scared of on occasion,” Monique remarked with a smile as she approached the desk and sat down.

“You don’t know this woman,” Bonnie returned darkly. “So, what you’re doing here?” she asked, curiosity driving the evil tone away.

“I wanted to see if you were as close to my apartment as you claimed. Imagine my surprise to see you are,” Monique answered with a shrug.

Bonnie nodded, knowing why Monique was there. Monique was bored. All of her friends had jobs while she was pretty much on vacation. It left her with nothing to do during the day and it did not help matters that her friends were typically too tired to hang out after work.

“So, how do you like working here?” the fashion expert inquired, motioning around the office with a twirl of her finger.

Bonnie glanced away for a moment. “It could be worse.” No job was way worse than this job.

Monique nodded. “I’m sure you’ll make it all work. That’s what you do, right?”

Bonnie shrugged now. “I guess.”

“Don’t sound like that. You’re making me think you might not be the real Bonnie. I know you’ve been through a lot of crap, but don’t start to sound defeated now. You made it through all types of crap. Things have to get better and you’ll make it work,” Monique stated soundly.

Bonnie nodded slightly and took the words in. Monique believed in her. Her girlfriends believed in her. Hell, the families who adopted her believed in her, even for Kane and Isabel to get her this job. She got things done. Monique was right.

The determined look in her blue-green eyes let Monique know her words had gotten through. Bonnie noted she did feel better hearing those words from someone outside of the situation. Hopefully, things would get better and she could make not just her job, but everything work. She wanted things to work, after all.

-8-8-8-8-

Shego, Kim, and Yori were in a quick meeting between classes. Yori and Kim were still arguing for them to set up a tournament. Shego still did not want to hear anything about that, even though the young pair offered to do everything. Just the thought of a tournament overwhelmed her and she had a bad feeling about it.

“Shego-san, can you actually say no to this face?” Yori inquired while motioning to Kim, who was already in full-fledge puppy-dog pout.

“Ah! Stop doing that right now, Kimmie!” Shego commanded, pointing at her girlfriend with a threatening index finger. “God, sometimes I feel like throwing holy water on you, if only to prove that goddamn expression is a tool for the fucking devil!” She put her hands up, trying to block her view of it.

“She will stop as soon as you approve,” the ninja replied while Kim just concentrated on doing the most evil expression on the planet, in Shego’s opinion anyway. After all, Shego could not avoid her gaze for long.

Shego snarled and made a fist. She went through the motions as if she was going to seriously punch Kim, but she could not bring herself to do it. Apparently, it was impossible for her to hit Kim in anger now, which she knew was a good thing, but that did not help her right now.

“I can still pinch you, you know?” Shego reminded Kim.

“Do you really think a pinch is going to do the trick?” Kim countered.

She sucked her teeth and turned her back, as if she was going to walk away. That did not fool Kim, but Yori certainly thought Shego was about to make her escape. That explained why Yori gasped as Shego turned around in a flash.

Shego grabbed her girlfriend and flipped Kim down onto the mat that was close by. She pinned Kim in a flash and wasted no time punishing Kim for trying to use dirty tactics; she pinched Kim in the side. The hero yelped and twitched with each pinch, which caused an evil smirk to creep across Shego’s face like a spreading shadow.

“I told you!” Shego cackled in triumph as Kim tried to wiggle free and maintain the puppy-dog pout. It was not possible, as Shego made sure to keep pinching.

Yori was tempted to jump in just because Kim was their ticket to having a tournament. She doubted she had the nerve to break her usual reserved nature, but was not given the chance to find out. The phone rang and she went to answer it while Kim was still punished for her use of the puppy-dog pout.

“Shego-san, the telephone is for you,” Yori called from the small office in the back.

“The phone? Who is it?” Shego asked suspiciously. She thought it might be a ploy to save Kim. The ninja and the hero worked too well together in Shego’s opinion, so she would not put it passed them to have some kind of escape plan worked out with everything else.

“He says his name is Darrow,” Yori reported.

Shego was silent for a second. “Tell I’m coming,” she replied. She pinched Kim once more for good measure, before getting up to see what that irksome lawyer wanted with her life.

Kim breathed a sigh of relief as her lover released her and went to take her call. Yori came back out and sat down next to Kim. The duo looked at each other and sighed.

“She’s figuring out ways to get by the pout,” Kim said with a small frown. Her ultimate weapon might not be so ultimate soon enough.

“I do not understand. A tournament is a good idea. The students would have fun and they would be able to showcase their skills to loved ones and friends. We would have ways to rank them. We have to be able to move the students and it would help them to see their progress,” Yori stated.

“I know that and you know that. Shego probably knows it, too, but she just hates doing stuff in general.”

“I have not noticed this. She works very hard when teaching her class,” Yori pointed out.

“Well, she does like teaching. She likes things that involve her moving around and working out, but planning and setting things up just isn’t her style. I think she gets it from her father,” Kim remarked. She had no doubt Shego got her work ethic from Kane.

“But, she would not have to do anything. We would take care of the setup and things like that. Depending on how we set it up, she would not even have to be a judge,” Yori argued.

“I know. Well, she would still have to be a judge,” Kim said. They would not be able to get around that unless they happened across another master martial artist.

“Okay, yes, she would,” Yori conceded. “I was just trying to be positive.”

“We’ll get her again with it when we have the time. Right now, we should get ready for our next groups coming in,” Kim stated. Beyond that, she needed to figure out a way to keep her ultimate weapon fresh.

Yori nodded and they both climbed to their feet. Yori walked off down the hall while Kim started for the stairs. She happened to glance out of the window and noticed movement across the street. She would not have thought anything about it if only the cause for the movement did not appear to be her pet cat.

“What the hell is Cali doing over there?” Kim mumbled and she decided to leave the building for a moment to go get her pet. She did not want to lose the cat, just in case Cali was not sure how to make it back to the building.

Cali was about to go into an alley to sniff around, but Kim put a halt to that when she grabbed the feline. Cali did not put up a struggle and went back into the building with Kim. Kim put the cat down as soon as they were safe inside. Cali charged off to go get into something else while Kim went upstairs to prepare for her class.

Shego was still on the phone while the other teachers prepared. She really did not feel like dealing with her attorney unless she was a real crisis, but it was a necessary evil. She wanted to know what was going on with her case.

“So?” Shego inquired in the rudest tone that she could muster. It was usually a voice reserved for her mother.

“I’ve managed to make this go away. I’ve also spoken to Lyle about his conduct at this firm,” Charlie reported.

“You mean to tell me you’re not firing him after all of this?” she demanded with a snarl tugging at her top lip. A fire raged in her eyes for a moment and she wished he was there to see. That way he would understand just how serious this was to her.

“I can’t fire him for wanting to take you to court. I don’t have any real proof for the sexual harassment that you claim was going on. Bonnie still hasn’t said anything about it and Lyle denies it, of course. No other woman has said anything either.”

“Besides, he brings in a certain amount of clients that you would dislike losing,” Shego added in the unspoken excuse.

“That’s my business.”

“Your business is starting to annoy me.”

“If you’re so bothered by it, why not find your little girlfriend another firm?” he countered.

“Don’t tempt me. Do you honestly want her gone so badly?” she asked. If Bonnie was so disliked by everyone there, Shego would pull her out of the firm so quickly the wind would rival a hurricane. She doubted that such a hostile environment was good for Bonnie, especially considering that she had to deal with such horrible conditions most of her life. She deserved better by now and Shego could and would give it to her.

Charlie was silent for several seconds, which was the answer to Shego’s question. She nodded and smirked. She had him once again.

“Oh, you’re big and bad until you’re pressed into the fucking wall. You know Bonnie’s a brilliant lawyer and you don’t really want her away. She’s an asset to your firm and any firm she goes to. She’s bringing in business, isn’t she? Stop barking so much if you don’t mean what you say. It’s very annoying to deal with such insincerity,” Shego hissed venomously.

Shego hung up the phone before he could respond. _Bastard_. She never imagined he was as bothersome as he was now that she had to interact with him so many times in a row and her girlfriend worked for him. She supposed she would have to start using her other lawyer more often and she liked Shawn Sure more than Charlie anyway. Charlie just happened to have more experience than Shawn did, but that was irrelevant to her now.

Shego went to handle her class while hoping she did not have to put up with more talks of them holding a tournament. Of course, her desire was not met. The whole school seemed to be hell bent on them having a tournament. She growled in annoyance while listening to all of her students squeak on and on about a tournament.

“We’re not having a tournament, now get in line before we don’t have class, too!” she threatened them in a booming voice with a serious expression and glare.

Everyone fell into line at that and stood straight as a rod. The rest of the school heard the yelling and they even got into lines, even though they were doing what they were supposed to do anyway. Kim and Yori could not help laughing, not just at their students’ behavior, but also how opposed Shego was to having a tournament when they were so certain they would change her mind.

The day was normal for the most part after that. Yori left with Ron when lunchtime came. Kim ran upstairs to put food in Cali’s bowl before she and Shego went for lunch with Bonnie. She called for the cat while she was up there. Cali typically came when she called if she was in earshot, which Kim thought was odd for cat, but she liked it. Since Cali did not come after a few seconds, Kim guessed she was not in the apartment.

“Where’d that crazy cat get to now?” Kim wondered, casting her gaze out around the apartment. “I hope she’s not outside again. I don’t want to lose her.” Cali seemed happy here, but she did not know how stray cats really worked.

Kim left the building, keeping an eye out for her cat as she went to Shego’s car. They went off for lunch as usual. They were surprised to see Monique was with Bonnie again.

“Duchess, you keep bringing Monique with you and I’m going to think you’re hinting at something,” Shego teased with a devilish smirk as she and Kim sat down at the booth with their girlfriend and good friend.

“She ain’t hinting at a damn thing, so don’t even get that in your mind,” Monique replied, even though she knew Shego was just messing around.

“Don’t worry. You’re not that hot, after all,” Shego taunted the younger woman with a cruel smirk.

“Shego,” Kim chided her lover.

“What? You’d actually prefer I say she is hot?” Shego inquired in a baffled tone with her eyebrows curled up in complete confusion. She knew if Kim or Bonnie declared someone else hot in her presence, she would be pissed.

“I think it’s best for you to just drop the subject,” Bonnie replied and Kim nodded because there was no right answer to that question.

“Fine. So, how’d you two end up together again?” Shego asked, motioning to her girlfriend and Monique with her index finger. A waiter came by and took their drink orders fairly quick.

“I wanted to see if Bonnie worked as close to my house as she said she did. She is seriously four blocks away from my apartment building,” Monique answered as if she was stunned. “Now, I know where to go when I’m bored.” She planned to bug Bonnie more now that she knew where the lawyer was and how easy it was to get into her office. It saved Ron from her surprise visits, as she had been bothering him every now and then because his job was a bus ride away from her home.

“I suspect I’ll be seeing a lot more of Mo until she has to go back to work,” Bonnie commented. After all, with the way that Monique continued to complain about how bored she was, Bonnie knew that since she was so close, she was about to be used as a cure for boredom.

“Hey, you can keep using me to not have to take phone calls,” Monique pointed out with an amused smile.

“You are a lifesaver for that,” Bonnie concurred with a nod.

“Why aren’t you taking phone calls?” Kim asked with a slightly wrinkled brow. It seemed odd for the hardworking attorney to look for an excuse to get out of work.

“Heather keeps calling me,” Bonnie lamented with a groan. She rubbed her face with her hand in a wary manner. She was so sick of that woman.

“I thought you weren’t representing that asshole anymore,” Shego huffed, scowl in a place at the very mention of that bitch’s name.

The waiter picked that time to come back with the drinks and fumbled slightly upon hearing the word “asshole.” Shego frowned at him and was about to say something, but Kim glared at her in warning. Shego made a face, but wisely kept her mouth shut. The waiter took their lunch orders and then scurried off.

“You’d think that was the first time he heard the word asshole or something. Anyway, Duchess, I thought you weren’t representing her anymore,” Shego said again, just as upset as the first time.

“She won’t leave me alone. She won’t accept another lawyer and she just keeps bothering me,” Bonnie explained with a long exhale to show her frustration.

“Kimmie, I think we need to go see this bitch,” Shego said quite seriously, her attention to the hero now.

Kim was silent for a moment, causing eyes to turn to her. They had expected quick objections from the hero, but she did not offer any right away. Instead, she stared intensely at the table, thinking it over apparently.

“Kimmie,” Bonnie sternly scolded her for even entertaining the idea. The last thing they needed was to be in court again, after all.

“What! I didn’t even say anything!” Kim countered, motioning to herself with both hands. She did not sound angry, but more defending herself because she had not done anything yet.

Bonnie shook her finger at Kim. “Don’t even think about it. I want you two to stay out of trouble at least for the rest of the month. I don’t want any more legal battles involving you two,” she said, pointing back and forth between her two lovers.

“Spoilsport,” Shego grumbled and folded her arms across her chest like a child throwing a tantrum. Kim huffed, too, and mimicked Shego’s stance.

Bonnie rolled her eyes. “Stop acting like babies.”

Monique was ready to laugh, but held it in. Having lunch with the trio actually helped keep Monique at ease. To be honest, she had been a little worried about her friends, even though she had not shown it in their presence. Hey, she was used to some strange things after being friends with Kim for so long, but she needed to wrap her mind around Kim and Bonnie being in a relationship that included Shego. It was not just that Shego used to be a villain or that a trio was very different from the norm, but a mixture of the two, she supposed.

Being around the trio allowed Monique the chance to see how they fit together and how they made things work for them. She was able to throw the fact that a trio was not the norm out of her mind after a while. She did not care about it not being normal, but more about how her friends seemed to enjoy it and how they were together. It worked for them. It was normal for them and that was enough.

Now, all Monique needed to see that Shego was not going to wake up one day and decide that she would rather be evil again. She could tell it would break Kim’s and Bonnie’s hearts. But, they seemed to have faith in her and Shego did not seem like she was about to try to take over the world again.

So, Monique guessed she would grow out of that fear. After all, she used to wonder something similar about Bonnie, but now the thought never crossed her mind that Bonnie might one day go right back to trying to hurt Kim. She doubted it ever crossed Bonnie’s mind to hurt Kim in any way.

The lunch was just like the one that they shared before. They went about their business again afterwards. Kim went to check on Cali’s food to see if the cat ate, but she found the dish still full. She thought that was odd. Cali did not typically leave food lying around for long. She guessed the cat was not around again.

“Shego, have you seen Cali?” Kim asked as she came back downstairs.

“No. You know how she likes getting lost around the building, though,” Shego reminded her girlfriend, waving the matter off.

“Yeah, but the past couple of days, she keeps ending up outside,” Kim explained, glancing anxiously toward the door.

“If she figured out how to get out there, she’ll figure out how to get back in. After all, inside is where all the food is,” the pale woman remarked with a disinterested look on her face. She had no doubt the cat would figure out a way back into the building once she got hungry enough.

Kim could not call her lover a liar on that one. She went back to her class and did not worry too much about Cali. She hoped the cat was not trying to run away from them, not that she could understand why the feline would want to leave them.

-8-8-8-8-

Bonnie was on her way home from an average day at work. Monique had not stuck around after lunch, which Bonnie was thankful for. She still had a case to prepare, after all. She did not need Monique distracting with talks on the latest fashion, shopping sprees, or questions of when they were all going to get the chance to hang out again. But, overall, Bonnie would chalk today up as one of the better ones she had since arriving at the firm. She hoped things were starting to look up.

Her moment of optimism was short-lived because as she drove up to the building, she could see there were no open parking spots. Who the hell were all of these people parking in front of their building? She sucked her teeth and drove off to find another parking place.

“I hope those are parents of students or something and they’ll move soon,” she muttered, referring to the cars in front of the building. She would move her car as soon as a spot opened because she did not want to have to walk to her car in the morning.

Cali, who was in the alley along side the school, noticed Bonnie drive off. That was weird, especially since from what the cat could tell, Bonnie’s usual parking space was open. Suddenly, underneath all of the exhaust from the car, Cali caught the scent of that strange aroma that had her attention for the past couple of days. She immediately decided to follow Bonnie’s car.

Bonnie ended up parking almost two blocks away from the building. She frowned as she got out of the car and shut the door. She went to the sidewalk and realized she left her briefcase in the passenger seat. Typically, she would not care, but she needed it tonight if she wanted to continue working on her case, which she thought she would be able to get away with until Shego figured out what she was doing anyway. So, she opened the door to retrieve the case.

The air around Bonnie suddenly seemed to grow heavy and hot as she leaned into her car. The pressure felt hostile against her back, as if it had plans to tear her soul out. She whipped around, expecting someone to be there. She was surprised to see Cali was a couple of feet away, watching her with intense golden eyes.

“What are you looking at, you alley cat?” Bonnie hissed at the troublesome pet. She was a little upset that she allowed the little pest to scare her. 

Cali suddenly arched up and bared her sharp, pearl-colored teeth. Bonnie was surprised by such behavior and eyed Cali with perplexed turquoise eyes. The feline had never responded to her in such a way, no matter what she did. For a moment, she thought it was some type of kitty revenge going on, but then she found out the truth in regards to Cali’s sudden attack-mode. 

“A tramp like you calling the cat a name like that. Now, isn’t that hypocritical?” a hauntingly familiar voice commented and it made Bonnie’s blood run cold. It came from behind the lawyer.

Bonnie would never forget this voice. It was the voice of the person who wanted to kill her and Kimmie in some sick attempt to get back with Shego. Obsession did not begin to cover things in Bonnie’s opinion and she wished she could get a court order against the woman, but a restraining order really did not seem like it would do the job against witchcraft.

“Medea,” Bonnie growled the name in pure hatred.

“Oh, you remember me,” the witch commented as she appeared out of thin air to the left and behind of the attorney. Cali was focused right on that spot long before she revealed herself.

“I’m more wishing your memory could be wiped from the face of the Earth,” Bonnie remarked in a defiant tone. Medea seemed to be ready to reply, but suddenly Cali hissed and screeched at her. Bonnie chuckled. “I think it’s ironic that a cat doesn’t like a witch like you. It might be because you’re another type of ‘itch.’“

A frown cut across Medea’s face with the same intensity as a heated blade. The expression was directed at both Bonnie and Cali. “What kind of wretched beast is this? A bastard child of science and fate?” the witch said, sensing something strange with the cat. It was nothing so strange that she was bothered as she kicked at Cali to shoo the animal away. Cali hissed and bared her teeth to the woman again. Medea did not back away.

“Leave her alone,” Bonnie ordered soundly, as if she were the one in charge. “Leave us all alone. Shego doesn’t want you anymore.”

“Wrong. Shego is in love with me. I just need her to remember that,” Medea stated in a snarl-like tone. There was a demented sort of determination in her cerulean eyes.

“She doesn’t want you,” Bonnie said in a clear tone with a firm look in her own blue-green eyes.

“You don’t know her like I do. I know what she wants and what she needs, and she needs you to be out of her life,” Medea replied coolly.

“Don’t confuse me with you,” Bonnie quipped with a smug look on her face.

“Big words from a woman I could kill with a mere wave of my hand.”

Before Bonnie could respond, Medea flicked her wrist in the lawyer’s direction and Bonnie felt as if she was being strangled. She gasped and put her hands to her neck, trying to pry imagined hands from around her throat. A wicked glint flickered in the witch’s eyes.

“You three think you could keep me way with those wards around your school? After some scouting and learning the range, I easily worked out how to get to you. This is even better! I made you come to me with my illusion and now you’re out here alone. One on one, I’m sure I can take you and the new princess. So, I’ll crush you first and then her and then Shego will be all mine,” Medea explained with a cruel smile on her face.

Bonnie gagged, words being compressed in her throat due the lack of air and pressure on her windpipe. _What the hell is wrong with this woman? What makes her think Shego will want anything to do with her if she kills me and Kimmie? How the hell did this woman used to be a hero?_

Medea continued to smile evilly while Bonnie fell to her knees and started to turn blue in the face. She locked eyes with the only help that was on the street – Cali. She wished she could tell that stupid cat to go get Kim and Shego. But, she doubted the feline would have understood if she could speak. _I don’t want to die out here alone in the street_. The world began to go fuzzy around the edges. _Kimmie, Shego! Please!_

Cali could see the look of panic in Bonnie’s eyes. She could guess what was happening, too. After all, she was a hunter. She knew what prey looked like in the grips of death.

The feline hissed again, but that did not get a response from Medea. The witch did not as much as turn to glance at the cat. Cali lunged for the villain, hoping to get her attention there. Medea easily kicked her away, though. 

“Be gone, wretched beast, while I finish this maggot,” Medea commanded, eyes locked on Bonnie and burning with pure hatred that her prisoner just could not understand. 

Cali flashed her teeth once more as her ears pointed forward as she growled at the villain. Like hell she would let anyone finish off one of her humans! Attacking again as she was would be pointless and she knew that. She was only likely to be kicked again, probably harder than the first time. She also knew she would never make it to Kim or Shego in time for Bonnie. As she took in the purely sadistic look on Medea’s face and the pleading-for-dear-life from Bonnie, she knew immediately what she had to do.

Bonnie was about to pass out, feeling lightheaded, and the world was a blur. So, she thought she might be hallucinating when Cali leaped into action. Hallucination was the only way to explain why Cali was suddenly engulfed in a bright orange fire and when the fire vanished, Cali was gone. In her place stood a human/cat hybrid creature from what Bonnie could tell.

“Let her go!” Cali roared as she struck out at Medea with a speed that even the witch could not fathom.

Medea was caught totally off guard as the large paw of the cat-girl came into contact with her side, feeling as if her ribs were immediately turned to dust from the power in the hit. She was flung to the side, her back impacting a building. She cried out as agony shot through her spine while Cali fell to Bonnie’s side and roared like a lion as Medea’s eyes locked onto them. A stream of blood came from the witch’s mouth.

“So, you reveal your true self, beast. What are you, some monstrosity these bitches gathered to confront me?” Medea demanded, hand clutching her injured side.

“I won’t let you hurt Bonnie,” Cali stated with a growl in her throat as she crouched in front of Bonnie, making sure she was between Bonnie and the threat. She continued to flash her sharp, white teeth at the witch with her paws up, ready to pounce again. She was not going to lose one of her humans! Even if it was the one that refused to pet her or feed her tuna.

“You think you’ll be able to stop me?” Medea challenged the creature with a smirk.

“I know I will,” Cali replied with confidence. She would defend Bonnie until her last breath if necessary.

Medea stood up properly and pointed at the cat-girl. Cali snorted, her breath coming out so forcefully that the puff that escaped her was visible. Cali snarled as pain shot through her and it felt like her forearm had been snapped in two, but she did not hear the bone shatter.

“I can break every bone in your body this way if I feel like it,” Medea informed the feline-creature.

“You’ll have to do worse than that if you want to get to Bonnie,” Cali replied in quite the determined voice.

Medea took a daring step next to Bonnie and Cali advanced, viciously snapping at the witch. Medea jumped back and pointed at the cat-girl again. Cali roared as she felt like her whole right arm had been shattered. Bonnie finally gathered enough oxygen in her body for her brain to function properly.

Turquoise eyes could not believe what they witnessed as they watched Cali. She had transformed into some humanoid-cat-thing and was defending Bonnie against that psycho Medea. Cali was not faring well, though. Bonnie knew Medea could not use her powers for long, but she more than likely had enough power to kill Cali.

While Medea’s focus was on Cali, Bonnie reached into her pocket to get her phone. She sent quite possibly the fastest text message possible. She really would prefer to keep her lovers out of it, but she knew she could not help Cali. Her expertise in saving came in other areas, after all.

-8-8-8-8-

Shego stepped away from sparring with Kim as she heard her phone going off. Her girlfriends forced her to get a cell phone to keep in touch, even though she swore she did not need one. She usually would have ignored it, but the ring-tone let her know Bonnie was trying to get in touch with her. Kim knew the sound, too, which was why she followed Shego to the phone and hung onto Shego’s waist as Shego checked the message.

“What the fuck?” Shego muttered to herself as she read the text.

“Why’s she up the street?” Kim wondered aloud.

“Who knows, but it seems she wants us. So, let’s move it.”

Kim nodded and they took off to see what Bonnie was talking about in her brief message, which read “up street, cum now.” They locked up the building and walked up the block. The first thing they noticed was Bonnie on the ground and her face was bright red. They were about to charge right in, but knew better. They needed to assess the situation before running in to make sure they did the best thing to save Bonnie. They needed to keep their wits about them and remain calm, which allowed them to take in the rest of the scene.

After seeing Bonnie, they noticed Medea was tangling with Cali, who Kim recognized as Dementor’s assistant. She wondered what the cat-girl was doing there and why she seemed to be helping Bonnie in some way. She knew it was not the time for questions, though. They needed to get Bonnie to safety.

“I’ll distract her. You get the Duchess,” Shego told Kim.

Kim did not argue and quickly ducked out of sight before Medea took notice of her. Shego charged in, knowing the cat-girl was fighting a losing battle if all of the blood dripping from her meant anything. The former thief slashed at Medea from behind, cutting the witch’s shoulder with plasma-charged talons.

Medea hissed as she realized she was injured just as badly as before, but in a new area. She whipped around to see who had dared hurt her and her expression of fury dropped instantly when she saw Shego snarling in front of her. Green energy blazed off of Shego’s hands like flames from the sun and a rage boiled in her eyes like the lava in a volcano.

“You cut me…?” Medea whimpered in disbelief. Her eyes seemed to mist over in sheer anguish.

“I’ll do a lot more than that if you don’t get the hell out of here,” Shego promised with a dark look in her eyes. Like hell she was going to allow someone like Medea to continue through life, plotting to kill her lovers. She would not suffer this wench’s existence if that was to keep being her goal in life.

“How could you cut me? I’m your princess,” Medea said with an absolutely crushed look on her face. It was like her world just ended.

“Fuck if you are! You dropped me, remember? You moved on from me! You didn’t want me and now all of a sudden you do? The fuck is wrong with you? Well, I’ve moved on. I don’t love you. I don’t even like you. Right now, I’m beyond hating you and I will slit you from navel to nose if necessary to get you to leave my family alone!” Shego bellowed in all the sincerity that she could muster. _When the fuck did Medea lose her mind?_

Medea did not seem able to process the words and her eyes darted back and forth. Shego decided to keep talking, to keep Medea’s focus on her. She wanted Kim and Bonnie to get as far away as they could in that time.

“Don’t act like you’re so surprised,” Shego continued on. “First of all, we dated fucking fifteen years ago. We were kids. It was a high school romance and you ended it. You were the one that was too scared to be an out lesbian. Too scared to be a lesbian point blank. You thought it would ruin your image. Well, image gone, as is Shego. That’s the way the ball bounces. So, leave me the fuck alone,” she ordered in a cold, harsh tone.

-8-8-8-8-

While Shego kept Medea’s attention by pretty much cursing her out and promising to kill her if she touched Kim or Bonnie, the hero made her way toward Bonnie and grabbed the lawyer before Bonnie even knew what was going on. Kim dashed for an alley across the street, carrying Bonnie all the way over bridal style without a problem.

Kim’s heart pounded in her chest the whole time and even though this took seconds, it felt like years to Kim. What if they were too late? What if Medea had found out Bonnie sent that text and done something to Bonnie with magic? What if Bonnie was bleeding internally? What would they do without Bonnie? How would they go on?

“Baby, you okay?” Kim asked frantically, looking Bonnie over for wounds as soon as she put the lawyer down. _Please, be okay!_

“I’m fine,” Bonnie answered while pushing Kim’s hands away. She held Kim’s wrists and looked into those deep olive eyes. “I’m okay,” she promised.

Kim did not say anything more. She took back control of her hands and pulled Bonnie into a tight hug. She kissed the side of Bonnie’s head.

“I was so scared. I don’t know what we’d do without you,” Kim whispered, rubbing Bonnie’s back. Her heart was still pounding against her ribs.

“You’d both starve,” Bonnie joked, hoping to lighten the situation just a little to ease her love’s worry. “I’m fine, so don’t think about it. We have to help Shego and we have to get Cali some medical attention.”

“Cali? How do you know Dementor’s sidekick?” Kim asked with an arched eyebrow.

“I’ll explain it all later, but right now, we have to help Shego,” Bonnie pointed out.

Kim’s eyes went back across the street to see that their girlfriend was still giving her ex quite the mouthful. It did not look like she even needed help. Shego seemed to be defeating an opponent in one of the worse ways, by emotionally shredding her. Medea stood there, stock still, eyes wide, just listening to Shego.

“How?” the adventurer wondered aloud, trying to figure out how to assist Shego.

“That’s the thing. I don’t know. Wait, the charms around the building protect us from her magic. Kim, go back home and bring one of the charms with you. That way, we can get close to her and she wouldn’t be able to touch us with her magic,” Bonnie reasoned.

“You are brilliant, baby,” Kim said and she ran off at top speed.

“I just hope she gets back in time to save that stupid cat,” Bonnie muttered.

Kim was back in a flash. Barely half-a-minute had gone by. She handed Bonnie one of the charms that they had hidden around the building that had been warding Medea off. It was a small piece of paper that looked like a tarot card, but had foreign letters written down the length of it.

“You have one for yourself?” Bonnie asked, just to be sure. Now, she realized Kim was above normal intelligence and any somewhat smart person would have grabbed more than one, but Kim was also impulsive and sometimes overconfident, so it was also possible that she grabbed one to save time and just gave that one to Bonnie.

“Of course I do,” Kim replied, holding up her own charm.

The pair then took off back across the street just in time to see that Medea had taken all that she could stand. The witch screamed as tears poured out of her eyes, which were flashing white quite literally. She threw her hand out and a pure white lightning blast shot out from her fingers. She planned to fry Shego, it would seem.

Kim and Bonnie had other plans, though. Bonnie placed herself between Shego and the attack. Shego was about to holler at her lover in the worst way for taking that hit until she saw the trick up Bonnie’s sleeve. Bonnie placed the ward in front of her and it absorbed the magic, taking in the complete lightning assault.

Kim came in with a flying kick, striking Medea in the face. The witch collapsed to the ground and snarled, turning her deadly assault to Kim. She used the same attack only to find out that Kim had the same defense as Bonnie. The redhead smirked as her ward absorbed all of the lightning. Medea’s face fell from shock.

“I think this could be checkmate,” Kim remarked with a smile.

“You haven’t seen the last of me! Shego will be mine!” Medea declared before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

“Like fuck I will,” Shego shouted.

Kim snickered. “She’s easier than I thought in a fight. I can see why she got out of the crime-fighting game.”

“Well, that and she’s out of her mind,” Bonnie said.

“She is that. Thanks for the save, Duchess. I thought she had me for a second and for even longer, I was scared she had you,” Shego admitted, putting her arms around Bonnie. The body contact reassured her that Bonnie had not been harmed by that attack, which helped calm her rapidly beating heart.

“Don’t mention it, sweetness. You and Kimmie save my ass all the time, after all,” Bonnie commented lightly.

Shego decided against arguing that one, mostly because she was trying to calm her racing heart down. Bonnie was fine, she told herself. Bonnie was not harmed at all by Medea. Bonnie even had enough energy to save her life, so obviously, Bonnie was okay.

Bonnie turned her attention to her savior, Cali. The cat-girl was laid out on the sidewalk, bleeding onto the concrete. She appeared to be trying to get up, but her arms and legs were not allowing it, shaking under the pressure of trying to be used. Bonnie pulled away from Shego and went to the cat-girl’s side. Bonnie wrapped an arm around the downed creature’s shoulders.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to get up again,” Bonnie assured the feline in a gentle tone.

“Won’t let her… won’t let her…” Cali coughed, speaking into the walkway because she could not lift her head. Her hair covered the side of her face that would have been able to see Bonnie standing near her. Her nose was buried in her own blood, so she could not even catch a scent, not that she would have been able to make heads or tails of any sensory information at the moment.

“You didn’t let her. Now, stop trying to move around. My babies won’t forgive me if I let you die,” Bonnie whispered to the cat-girl.

“Bonnie, we need to get her some help,” Kim stated the obvious, but she was not sure if Bonnie realized it because of the way that the lawyer was hugging the cat-girl.

“Where do we take her? A doctor? A vet? Either way, won’t they take her away?” Bonnie said. Something like Cali would raise all sorts of curiosity and Bonnie feared she would be dissected like some worm.

“I know where we can take her with the least amount of questions asked,” Kim replied.

Bonnie and Shego almost immediately guessed where they were going. Shego carefully picked Cali up and loaded her into the backseat of Bonnie’s car. They went to Middleton General, but only Kim got out. She ran into get her mother, who thankfully was not doing anything important. Ann looked up from her desk, quite shocked, when her daughter burst into her office, sweaty and out of breath.

“Mom, we need your help without you asking a lot of questions because I’ll tell you right now, we don’t know much more than you do,” Kim stated.

Ann was curious as to what was going on and she hoped her daughter’s girlfriends were all right. She quickly rose from her seat and went with her daughter. Kim led Ann out to the car, where Ann was able to see Shego and Bonnie were fine. It was the extra…person?… with them that was injured.

“Sneak her into my office while I go get supplies,” Ann ordered curtly as she turned to go back into the hospital.

Bonnie was surprised at how easily Kim and Shego sneaked Cali into the hospital. They would have made a hell of a thief team, she thought. They laid Cali out on the floor, thinking that would be best for the doctor to work when she finally came back. They waited for Ann in her office and they did not have to wait long. Ann came in and got to work immediately. Cali had passed out a while ago.

“Bonnie, why the hell was Dementor’s sidekick there fighting Medea?” Kim asked as she and her lovers stayed as far away from the working doctor as they could. They did not want to get in the surgeon’s way.

“She saved me,” Bonnie replied, amazement in her voice and shock in her eyes, which were locked on the wounded cat-girl. She would not help wondering why Cali had saved her. She was always mean and rude to Cali and yet Cali had thrown herself into harm’s way for Bonnie. _I guess this is why Kim likes her so much, even if she doesn’t know. She’s just like Kim_.

“Saved you? Why would she save you?” Kim wondered aloud, looking off to the side with her hand to her chin. Shego nodded, sharing the redhead’s confusion.

Bonnie was silent and shook her head. She was not sure why Cali would save her. She treated Cali like crap, after all. She refused to fed the cat, pet her, or even acknowledge her unless she was yelling at the feline. It did not make any sense for Cali to save her in her opinion. She was nothing to the cat, after all.

“Kimmie, where did you find Cali? Our cat, I mean,” Bonnie asked. How the hell did Kim end up with Dementor’s mutant sidekick?

“It was when I was guarding the museum. She just sort of wandered over and grew on me. After that, she was just wandering around the alley by our building and I found her when I took out the garbage. Why? What does that have to do with any of this?” Kim countered and then her eyes went wide. “Cali was out there? Did Medea hurt her for being ours?”

Bonnie shook her head. “No, no, no. Nothing like that, I promise.”

“Are you sure? Because I couldn’t find Cali and she’s been going outside. Medea could’ve gotten to her before she got to you.”

“Baby, I promise you that didn’t happen. I’m just curious. What did you do the day she was wandering outside of our building?”

Kim’s brow furrowed in thought. “Hmm… I think I helped Dementor’s sidekick because she thought she killed him after hitting him. Apparently, he was mistreating her and she had enough of it and just hit him. She thought she killed him and wanted my help. Why?” she repeated. She was starting to feel like she was on the witness stand and Bonnie was leading her into a trap.

“This is the sidekick that tackled you and stuff like that?”

Kim nodded. “Uh-huh.”

“Okay, demon child, why the hell are you asking all of these questions?” Shego demanded. Her face was now tight from annoyance. “What the hell does this have to do with anything?”

Taking a deep breath, Bonnie put her hands up. “All right, loves, don’t freak out and don’t judge, but Cali, this Cali we’re looking at is also our cat,” she answered in a slow, calm voice, hoping to soften the impact because she knew how they felt about their cat.

Shego’s and Kim’s faces showed pure bewilderment. They were certainly having a “what the fuck” moment and it was written on their faces. Kim raised her hand and opened her mouth, as if she was going to say something, but then shut her mouth and put her hand down. Shego squinted and just looked over at the creature as Ann worked on her. The creature that had saved her Duchess, that was on the floor and close to death, that fought Medea tooth and nail apparently, that was their cat?

“Ann, is she going to be all right?” Bonnie asked with concern while her lovers were speechless. She had her hands folded in front of her, as if that would make things better if she got the response that she did not want.

“It looks that way. I wish I could treat her better than this, but I doubt it would go over well if we wheeled her into an OR right now. I would hate for someone you know to be stolen away by curious doctors. Most of the damage is actually superficial, but she does have some deep lacerations, which can be stitched,” Ann replied. “It looks like someone was trying to tear her arms off.”

“But, she’ll be all right?” Bonnie asked.

“Of course,” Ann replied with a confidence Kim had certainly inherited. It was comforting to hear it, too.

“Thank you for that,” Bonnie said rather humbly. Most people would have found the tone odd, but Ann had heard it plenty of times since Bonnie started dating her daughter.

“Don’t mention it. It’s a good thing that she’s unconscious, though. I’m not sure what kind of painkillers I would give a cat-human… thing,” Ann said, sounding rather normal despite the situation. No one really corrected her on what to call Cali, all too caught up in other things to argue over something like that right now.

“Are you serious, baby? Is that really our cat?” Kim asked, eyes focused on the unconscious Cali, who was spread out on the floor, still bleeding despite Ann working as quick as she could.

“Yes, that’s Cali, our cat,” Bonnie replied.

“I guess that explains why I didn’t see her with Dementor when I tangled with him a few days ago. Why is she with us?” Kim wondered aloud, putting her hand on her chin, trying to work it out.

“Uh… hello, she freaking loves you!” Shego pointed out before she even realized what she was saying. She just thought about the way that their cat acted with Kim, the person who would cuddle the cat with almost all of the care that a person would do with a baby. And she did not even want to carry on with the implications of that thought.

Kim almost asked why, but thought about how she treated Cali and compared to how she saw Dementor treat Cali. Was he all Cali knew before she came along? She was not sure, but still, she was not comfortable with the idea that a cat-girl, someone she knew was fully self-aware and intelligent like a human, loved her and was living with them. She did not want to hurt Cali’s feelings, but then again, that was something that might be inevitable because she was not sure if she still wanted Cali around, even in her cat form.

“She loves you?” Ann echoed, turning to look at her daughter for a moment. She regarded Kim with an arched eyebrow, silently demanding an explanation.

“I think this is a conversation that should be held when Cali is awake and somewhat of sound mind,” Kim replied.

Silent nods agreed. Cali held all of the answers, after all. Ann patched up the wounds, mostly terrible gashes that she needed to stitch and then bandage. The cuts were deep, but they would heal. Apparently, Medea could not break Cali’s bones as easily as she promised since all of those were intact. The cat-girl’s breathing was steady, so she was as fine as she was going to get at the moment.

“We shouldn’t move her now. We should just let her rest,” Ann advised them.

“So, we’re just going to leave her on the floor?” Bonnie asked. This did not sit well with her. Cali had saved her life. She deserved more than a floor to sleep on.

“For now. Kim knows where there are blankets if you find that necessary. I need to go make sure I don’t have any sudden visitors to my office, so they don’t get to see this display,” Ann said and she rushed off.

Bonnie sighed. “Baby, do you think…” She did not need to finish the request.

Kim went off for blankets and came back quickly. She covered Cali carefully, not wanting to disturb any of the wounds. Once she was done, she stepped back and just stared at the floor. The ladies were not sure what to do with themselves now.

The trio looked at each other, all of them having questions that they wanted to ask. The only problem was that they all knew none of them had the answer. They had to wake for Cali to wake up, which took almost an hour. By then, the trio was seated on a couch located against the wall. They sat normally, rather than their stack, and focused on the cat-girl.

Small, kitten-like whimpers filled the room and Cali’s body moved slightly. She hissed as she tried to push herself up with her injured limbs. It was then that the three decided to speak up.

“Cali, don’t move. You’re hurt really badly,” Kim cautioned the cat-girl.

The voice caused Cali to look up, even though the movement caused throbbing in her neck and a sharp pain in her head. Still, she kept her attention to her humans. She smiled a bit when she saw Bonnie was fine; she had not failed Bonnie.

“How do you feel, Cali?” Bonnie inquired.

“Hurt… all over… everywhere,” Cali answered, voice sounding quiet and forced.

“Are you okay to talk?” the lawyer asked.

“I… can…” Cali replied. That might have been the only thing that she could do because moving felt like it would equal a fate worth than death right now.

“Cali, tell us, what are you doing here? What are you doing with us?” Kim asked, knowing that if she spoke gently, Cali would respond positively. Looking down at the injured soul, speaking to the cat-girl as she did the last time she saw Cali in that form, she remembered what Cali was like when with Dementor. Cali was like a big kitten.

“I like you…?” Cali replied, squinting a little. It was not so much a guess, but a confused answer. She thought it was obvious that she was fond of her humans, even though they were quite perplexing creatures that she had yet to figure out. Still, they were kind to her and accepted her and the worst they ever did was call her “fat cat” or something like that.

“How do you like Kimmie, though?” Shego demanded.

The tone, familiar to Cali from others, caused the cat-girl to flinch. Kim noticed and held her hand up, signally to the eldest she needed to stop. Shego frowned and folded her arms across her chest. It was starting to be her signature move.

“Cali, don’t be scared. Shego doesn’t mean anything by it. You know how she is,” Kim pointed out as she leaned down next to the feline creature. She quickly scanned for a safe place to pet and began to caress Cali’s ears. The cat-girl purred and Shego scowled like it was the worst thing she had ever heard.

“Yeah…” the cat-girl concurred. She _did_ know how Shego was, which was why she was nervous about the voice Shego used. Shego seemed really mad at her and she did not understand why.

“What Shego means is, how do you like us? Why are you staying with us?” Kim asked.

“Lying to us,” Shego added in with a huff.

“Lying? I lied?” Cali seemed like she was in shock. Her questions came out as a breath.

“Cali, you pretended to be just a cat while you were with us. We thought you were just a cat,” Kim explained.

“Wanted… to… stay. I’m… comfortable… most…” Cali paused and swallowed hard. She took a few more breaths and started up again because she wanted to answer the questions. She wanted to be able to stay with them. “I’m not this…” She glanced down her body.

“You’re not this?” Bonnie echoed, her eyebrows bending in a little.

“Not… this… body…” Cali licked her lips and shook her head, like she was a little confused. “Born how you saw first…”

“You were born a cat?” Kim guessed, looking Cali up and down.

“Oh, damn it, don’t tell me that fucking idiot Dementor was experimenting on animals like he’s DNAmy,” Shego commented, rolling her eyes. She could see him being a moron and ruining some poor animal’s life.

“Well, Dementor did have those mutant dachshunds,” Kim reminded them.

“Found me… saved me… made me…” Cali replied slowly. She closed her eyes and had to catch her breath again.

“Cali, if you’re in a lot of pain, we can talk about this later,” Kim promised her. She did not want to trouble the… person?… who saved her beloved.

“Wanna explain. Don’t want to be sent away…” Cali said in a whisper as tears welled up in her eyes and silently glided down her cheeks.

“We’re not sending you away,” Bonnie gently assured the feline.

Shego made a face as if asking, “We’re not?!” Bonnie took her arm and firmly held the limb with both of her hands while her eyes stated, “No, we’re not.” Shego could not understand why they were not. Cali loved their Kimmie, after all. They should not be providing food, shelter, and warmth to a rival!

They let Cali rest and sneaked her out after a while, knowing it was better to be gone. They were trying their luck by hanging out in a hospital with an injured possible-crime-against-nature. Making it worse, if they were caught in Ann’s office, she could get in trouble.

They returned home. Cali smiled when she was allowed back into the building. She smiled even wider when she was let into the apartment. She purred when they let her lay on the sofa. Maybe Bonnie spoke the truth and they were going to let her stay, she thought. Wonderful.

“Cali, first and foremost, I want to thank you for saving my life,” Bonnie stated soundly, so that there could not be a question about her gratitude.

“I’ll protect all of you, like you do for me,” Cali replied, still speaking in a tired tone.

“Noble little home-wrecker, aren’t you?” Shego snapped, scowling in the creature’s direction.

“Shego, she saved Bonnie’s life,” Kim reminded the eldest.

“And I’m very thankful for that. But, I’m not for feeding someone that’s looking to get you in bed,” Shego remarked.

“Oh, welcome to my world when you showed up,” Bonnie quipped with smart-ass look on her face.

“Hey, I was different. I wasn’t some freak of nature,” Shego said. Bonnie just looked at her; that one was _way_ too easy. Shego growled and pointed at Bonnie. “You know what I mean!”

“Cali, what do you want from us?” Kim asked to get back to the matter at hand before her lovers went off on one of their little arguments. It did not seem to her that Cali was seeking a lover, as Shego seemed to think. But, then again, Shego seemed to think everyone who took a lingering look at her and Bonnie were trying to bed the two.

“I wanna stay with you all. I wanna be your cat, like I’ve been. I want to be part of your pack. Is it this body that’s the problem? I know it’s not… right, I guess.” Her eyes searched the floor for a second, as if trying to figure out if those were the right words. “I don’t like it much. The old alpha made it. I wasn’t born this way and it doesn’t feel right being like this,” the cat-girl explained as best she could while trying to flex her paw. This body… it just was not her. Yes, it was useful, but it was not who she was.

“How did Dementor make you like this?” Shego more wondered aloud than asked directly.

“I dunno. I remember a machine and he shoved me in and then I fell asleep… I think. I know everything went black and then I woke up like this. I clawed everything because I didn’t know what happened. Eventually, I learned that this is part of me, but it isn’t me. I’ve got four legs. I’ve got a wet nose. I’ve got a body that fits through a hole in the door. That’s me. You’ve seen me,” Cali said, voice and eyes pleading with them to understand, begging them to keep her.

“You want us to believe you’re just a cat?” Shego asked, scoffing quite loudly.

“Not a cat. I think I was called a kippy by the first alpha. I’m what you saw, though,” Cali replied in earnest. “I don’t wanna be thrown away again…” Her eyes misted over and she had to swallow a lump in her throat.

The trio looked at each other. What the hell new mess were they in? How were they supposed to react?

“She did save Bonnie,” Kim argued, looking at Shego.

“She wants to bang you!” Shego countered.

“She hasn’t shown any signs of that, sweetie. From what we’ve seen, she’s just been a cat and it seems that’s all she wants to be. We should give her a chance,” Bonnie replied calmly.

“You don’t even like her,” Shego pointed out.

“That was before she saved my life. If she wanted Kimmie so badly, she could have let me die, as one less person to worry about, but she didn’t. She showed me this form of hers, one she’s obviously not comfortable with and was scared to reveal to us, and saved _me_ , the one who she should want most to die in this house. Give her the benefit of the doubt,” Bonnie implored the eldest.

Shego was silent for a long moment. All eyes were focused on her, as if the fate of the universe hung on her words. She did not feel much pressure if that was the case, or so her annoyed expression implied. And then suddenly, she rubbed Cali’s head. It was hard to stay angry with someone who saved Bonnie’s life and risked her own life for Bonnie.

“You don’t wander around here looking like that. You’re a pet cat, damn it. Or kippy or whatever the fuck it is. You’re not some reject from an anime,” Shego remarked. How could she just abandon someone who saved Bonnie? Not to mention, she somewhat liked having the fat, lazy cat around. _Somewhat_.

“I’ll change right now!” Cali promised.

“Wait, don’t do that. You’ve got stitches. Who knows what might happen if you change your cat form right now,” Kim pointed out.

“Stitches?” Cali wondered what those were, so she looked on her body to see where these new additions might be. Her sharp eyes immediately caught sight of the threads in her arms where she used to have cuts and there were several bandages. She sniffed at the gauze. “Why’d you do that?” she asked.

“You were bleeding heavily. We didn’t want you to die,” Kim explained in a “duh” type of voice.

Cali nodded. “I kind of heal pretty quick. I don’t know if I’ll need these.”

“Well, keep ‘em for now, just in case,” Shego ordered almost harshly.

“So, I have to stay like this?” Cali pouted. She honestly hated her humanoid form. She hated being so big. She hated having arms. She even hated having hands, despite being able to pick things up and hold onto things. It just did not feel right.

“Until your stitches come out. We’ll have a doctor coming here to check on you regularly,” Kim stated.

“How long will that be? This form is… horrible,” Cali said for lack of a better term. She doubted she could make them understand, but it was just disgusting and unnatural to her.

“Stop whining. We’ll bring you tuna and milk every day like always and before you know it, you’ll be getting stuck in places all over again,” Shego said with a snort.

Cali continued to pout, but the orders stood. She was to remain as she was until she got the stitches out. The trio tried to go on treating her as normal, but it was rather difficult with her being in the cat-girl form. They did find out she was not quite as human as she looked.

She had no shows on television that she liked. In fact, she admitted that she did not understand it much, wondering how the people got into the box and how they planned on getting out. When she expressed that thought, the trio all laughed. She slept most of the day. No human being, no matter how lazy, could pull off the straight twenty hours of continuous sleep Cali could put in on a good day. They also picked up on the fact that she understood almost nothing about human socializing because everything she watched on television involved her asking a billion and one questions to whoever was around. Most of them quite simple questions and the answers were the same, but she still did not seem to comprehend things.

Aside from worrying about their cat-girl, the trio recalled they had to do something about Medea. As a quick fix, they all got a charm like the ones they used to protect the building, but smaller, and wore it somewhere on their persons. They even got Cali one, putting it on a collar that had been purchased for her before they knew she was a cat-girl. Cali wanted it on the collar, as she did plan on wearing it once she could go back to her other form.

For now, that was how they were going to handle things. They needed some time to get their heads together and wrap their minds around the new insanity in their lives. The three figured one day they would just have to learn to expect the unexpected.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: the return of the reporter who started the downward spiral of the trio.


	20. Twilight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters; Disney does. Well, no, I do own Cali. I also do not own SpongeBob Squarepants or the Fairly Odd Parents.

20: Twilight

“Cali, will you stop fucking whining!” Shego commanded, screaming into the living room from the game room. She was pretty sure there was nothing more annoying than a cat-girl throwing a temper tantrum. 

Cali hissed and made a face, baring her teeth like she would in her cat form, except she was not in her cat form. She was on the sofa, something she would not have minded if she were able to change forms. She was stuck in her human form and quite pissed about it, which led to a lot of crying about it on her part.

She heeded Shego’s order, though, closing her mouth. Shego gave out no sympathy when Cali was in her human form and Shego knew just what to do to bother Cali without hurting her. The fact that Shego was not very kind to her like this was now one of the many reasons Cali disliked this form.

The humanoid feline quieted down and turned her attention to the current bane of her existence. She glared at the stitches on both of her arms. If she did not have the stitches in, she would be able to change into her real form. _Damn stitches!_

“Don’t pick at the stitches!” Bonnie barked as she walked by the living room and happened to glance in. She saw the cat-girl coming dangerously close to the stitches in her right arm.

“Cali, do I need to get the goddamn water bottle?” Shego demanded. _That damn cat is going to do herself more harm than ever just from lying on the damn couch!_

Panicked hissing echoed through the house and answered Shego’s question. Apparently, Cali did not want her to get the water bottle. Cali disliking being squirted with water sort of tickled Shego and helped her accept that Cali was way more cat than girl.

“I thought so,” Shego said, just to scare Cali a little more and make sure she stayed away from those stitches and bandages.

Cali huffed and turned her attention back to the television, which was on. She did not get the damn thing, even after living with her humans and also being stuck in front of the thing since she got injured a few days ago. Were those people trapped in the box or what? And if they were trapped, well, then why the hell were they not trying to get out? Why were they all trying to sleep with each other?

Cali actually had no problem asking those questions whenever one of her humans was close enough. It was her questioning that got the TV left on the soap opera channel because these actually got the least amount of questions from the cat-girl. The first night, Kim made the mistake of putting on an animal show for Cali, thinking she would like to see wild life, and she was right. Cali got excited and tried to jump into the screen. Once they got her calmed down from trying to murder the television, they had to listen to at least a trillion – by Shego’s count, anyway – questions about the freaking animals on the TV. For the sake of their sanity, a new show had to be found.

It was touch-and-go with the new shows. Cali went nuts when cartoons came on, not understanding that real world physics did not apply to the shows. So, she kept trying to make sense of them, which hurt everyone’s heads. To make matters worse, she liked singing along with the themes. Now, never having watched the shows, but thanks to Cali, Bonnie knew for a fact that if she ever met the creators of SpongeBob Sqaurepants and the Fairly Odd Parents, she would slay them.

Comedy shows were a waste on Cali. She did not get the jokes. Dramas were lost on her because she did not get the tension. Really, the only thing that Cali understood on TV was when characters were very sad or very happy. Anything other than that meant questions had to be asked. Soap operas seemed to confuse Cali enough that her brain could not think of enough questions or how to phrase them, so her owners were saved the headache while the cat was perplexed beyond reason.

“Lunch,” Kim said to the cat-girl as she seemed to just appear in the living room as far as Cali was concerned.

Cali grinned. Lunch, it was her second favorite time of the day! Breakfast was, of course, the first and dinner was the third. Snack time carried decimal points in her favorites columns.

“Fishes!” Cali grinned as she saw a pair of raw fish fillets on the plate. At first, they worried over giving her raw food in this form, but she ate it just like she did as a cat. She never suffered stomach pains or anything, so they figured it must be fine.

Kim smiled a bit, finding it funny that Cali was still quite overjoyed to see fish, even though they fed into her constantly, especially the past few days. Hey, she had earned it, risking life and limb for Bonnie.

“You have a doctor’s appointment, too,” Kim informed the cat-girl, who was merrily gnawing one fish.

Cali just nodded, not really hearing the redhead’s words. It was another trick to dealing with Cali, they could tell her that the world was coming to an end and if they told her while she was eating fish, she could not care less. The feline did not care much for healthcare, so Kim dodged any panic by telling the cat-girl while serving her fish.

Cali was left on her own with her lunch, which she quietly and merrily ate. Her ears twitched from the sounds of the pinball machine in the adjacent room while her eyes focused on the fish she had not touched yet. Her nostrils were blocked by the smell of her favorite food, but she made a mental note to seek out Kim and Bonnie later on, just to know where they were. She liked keeping track of her humans.

Moments later, a pointed ear twitched as the front door opened. Cali licked her fingers, relishing in any remaining flavors of fish she had finished not too long ago. She went so far as to smack her lips as she finished with her fingers. Over the fish, a semi-familiar scent caught her nose. She turned her head to the entrance of the living room where she saw her humans standing with her impromptu doctor.

“Hello, Cali,” Ann Possible greeted the cat-girl with a smile. Cali tried her best to shrink into the sofa. Despite the sweetness of her voice, Cali wanted to hide from her.

“‘Lo…” Cali muttered her greeting because she knew Ann was someone important to her humans, so she needed to be nice. But, she was wary of new humans and she was especially wary of Ann because last time they met, Ann kept poking at her. She did not have the best experiences when humans poked at her like that.

“Don’t be scared, Cali. My mom is just going to check you out and make sure you’re all right,” Kim assured the feline, strolling over to pet the frightened cat.

Cali’s brow wrinkled as she took those words in. Her doctor was Kimmie’s mother? She guessed she was going to need to be on her best behavior. She supposed she could pull it off as long as Kimmie continued to pet her as she was doing. She purred, hoping to encourage Kim.

Kim picked up on the fact that Cali would remain calm as long as she continued caressing her, so she rubbed the feline’s ears for her. Ann took the time to run as thorough an examination on the cat-girl as she could. Shego and Bonnie stood back, watching the doctor work.

Cali kept an eye on Ann, slightly suspicious of the doctor. Hey, the last time she was poked and prodded, she woke up with two legs, two arms, and the weirdest body that was damn hard to control for a long time. She did not want to go through that again, but, then again, she doubted Kim’s mother would do that to her. She definitely doubted anything like that would happen with her humans watching, too, but still. It did not hurt to be cautious.

“You seem to be doing quite fine, dear,” Ann reported, speaking directly to the cat-girl. Kim smiled.

“I heal quickly…” Cali muttered in quite the shy tone. How was she supposed to speak to the mother of her absolute favorite human? It was a little overwhelming. Part of her just wanted to jump on Ann and hug her for having such a wonderful daughter, but another part kept her uneasy because the surgeon was a doctor.

“I can see that. I might even be able to take these stitches out by my next visit,” Ann commented, looking at Cali’s damaged right arm. She had taken off a couple of bandages around Cali’s legs.

“Thank god,” Shego groaned and Bonnie nodded in agreement. They figured things would be a lot better once Cali could change back into her cat form and wander around like the lost, fat cat she enjoyed being.

“Can’t you take them out now?” Cali whined, fully pouting now. She was dying to get out of the stupid humanoid form! _How the hell could anyone stand to be so big for so freaking long? And what the hell was up with being so heavy and not being able to fit through stuff?_ She hated it! And she obviously had been listening to Shego a lot considering how salty her language was, especially in her own head.

“No, leave them in for now,” Ann ordered.

Shego knew what was coming and glared at their cat before she got a chance to start. “Don’t even fucking think about whining or I will go get the damn spray bottle,” she warned the feline, pointing a threatening finger at her.

Cali hissed and shrunk deeper into the sofa while Ann looked curiously between the cat-girl and Shego. In the end, she shook her head and dismissed it. The doctor stood to her proper height.

“She’s recovering quite nicely,” Ann pronounced. “Now, you three should continue dong what you’re doing and make sure she doesn’t strain herself. She should be fine by next week.”

“No big,” Kim said.

“Yeah, we got this,” Shego concurred. They clearly did.

“Well, I have to get to work. Walk me to the door,” Ann requested. The trio was not too sure who she meant, so they all decided to walk with her the short distance to the front door.

“So, Mom, is Cali really in good shape?” Kim asked, glancing back at their lounging, miserable pet.

“Yes, she is healing quite well. She wasn’t kidding when she said she healed fast. Now, are one of you going to tell me what she is exactly and what you’re doing with her? Is she another… girlfriend?” Ann asked, some trepidation trembling through her usually confident tone. Fear flashed quickly through her eyes.

“No!” all three women denied that charge vehemently. Their shaken and rather grossed expressions allowed the doctor to believe them right away. The surgeon was not sure why, but she was relieved to know the trio had not added to their numbers. She guessed she had gotten used to the trio just as she had gotten used to Kim and Bonnie when they were a couple, so adding to it would disturb that normalcy of the three of them now.

“Okay, then what are you doing with her?” Ann asked with the most baffled expression on her face, her sky blue eyes squinting and her generally smooth forehead wrinkled.

“Mom, as crazy as this is going to sound – and I know that says a lot coming from me – Cali’s our pet. She’s a cat,” Kim answered.

Ann’s face did not improve upon receiving the new information. “That’s a cat?” she asked, thumb pointing in the direction of the living room.

“Well, actually, she’s more a genetically engineered cat/puppy creature that was accidentally given a human form in a scientific experiment from our understanding of things,” Bonnie elaborated as best she could. They still had yet to get the full story out of Cali.

Ann took a moment, relaxed her face, and then asked one simple question that she knew would result in either her complete understanding, or her complete bemusement. “Kim found her, didn’t she?”

“Doy!” Shego answered. _Who the hell else would find a cat that turns into a human, but still thinks she’s a cat?_

Ann nodded. Okay, it all made sense now. Kim’s face fell, getting there was an implied jab at her. She scrunched up her face as if she was upset. Bonnie took some sympathy on her and wrapped her arm around the adventurer’s waist to show her that they were only having a bit of fun.

“Well, like I said, I have to get to work. I’ll come by in a couple more days to check on her and take out the stitches if everything continues to heal at the rate it’s going,” Ann informed them.

Kim hugged her mother goodbye. Bonnie did the same, smiling to show her joy of having such a privilege. Shego just waved. She did not hug her own mother, so she was not about to hug someone else’s. Ann did not press the issue with Shego and just waved in return. With the farewells said, the trio turned their attention back to their sofa-stranded feline.

“I’ll get her some milk,” Kim said. It would help keep the cat quiet, which meant Shego and Bonnie would not have to yell at the poor feline.

“Please, make sure you put that shit in that sippy cup I brought,” Shego implored.

The hero nodded, knowing Cali was not to be trusted with anything beyond a spill-proof children’s cup. They had given her a regular cup the first couple of times that she was thirsty lately and it never led any place that they wanted to be. One time she spilled the milk on the carpet and the other time she managed to get the milk in her hair. Instead of asking question, Shego just went out and brought a set of spill-proof cups. Problem solved, in her opinion anyway, and her girlfriends had not argued that one.

Kim took care of Cali, giving her some chilled milk. The cat-girl grinned widely as she took the cup eagerly. Kim could not help laughing. She wondered how the cat would react to know she was drinking out of a children’s cup. Cali probably would not care, as long as it had milk in it.

“Yummy!” the cat-girl declared, smacking her lips together after she took a long swig from her milk. Her humans did not say anything about her antics.

Bonnie started dinner while Shego returned to her pinball game. She glanced over into the living room, checking on Cali, making sure the energetic cat stayed her ass on that couch and did not spill any of that milk. Cali seemed quite content on the sofa with her cold beverage in hand and a silly milk mustache.

The night was calm and normal for them. The trio did find themselves a little lost when wanting to go lie on the sofa to cuddle up with each other. This was a problem they kept having since putting Cali on the couch and they had yet to come up with a proper solution.

They contemplated going to bed since they could cuddle in there. There was also a television in there, so Bonnie and Shego could watch their shows. But, it just seemed odd to go to bed so early in the evening. Hell, even if it was late evening, it still seemed strange.

Instead, they kept to themselves. Shego beat up on her pinball machine and some of the other games. Bonnie sat at the kitchen counter and got some work done on her laptop. Kim quietly plotted while pretending to be on the desktop computer in their open office area.

As bedtime crept closer, Cali fell asleep on the couch, cup still in her hand. Bonnie took the cup and put it in the sink, where Kim was washing the dishes. Shego exited the bathroom, giving Bonnie a chance to go in. Kim showered last. Thankfully, they never worried about running out of hot water.

Before going off to bed, the trio all checked on Cali again, finding she was awake again. She was covered with a blanket, given a couple of pillows, and her cup was refilled. They turned off all of the lights and each one ordered Cali to stay on the couch and get some sleep. Cali pouted, but she planned to sleep anyway. It was her favorite pastime, after all. With their cat secure, the trio all went to bed themselves.

In the morning, they went through their normal routines and everyone headed off to work after making sure the heroic cat-girl still understood that she was expected to stay on the couch. They left her with treats by her as well as a thermos of cold milk. She waved bye to them while looking extra-pathetic, poking out her lip and giving them big eyes with her ears flattened on her head, hoping it would get someone to stay with her.

“Fix your face, you big crybaby,” Shego called to the couch-ridden cat.

“We’ll be back soon,” Bonnie promised.

“With sardines!” Kim added with a bright smile that helped lift Cali’s spirits.

The trio left on that note. Kim and Shego walked Bonnie to her car before returning to the building to get ready for their classes. Yori arrived before the students, getting a chance to see Kim and Shego spar as their morning workout.

“Yori, you know you can jump in, right? You don’t have to stand there watching us all the time,” Kim pointed out, bobbing and weaving several strikes from her offensive-minded girlfriend.

“Um… no, Kim…” Yori muttered, feeling as if she would be butting in on their personal time.

“C’mon, small fry,” Shego chimed in. She would not mind more of a workout and she was well aware the kunoichi knew her stuff. It would be good for all of them.

Yori’s face scrunched up, but she really did not have a chance to think up another denial. Kim and Shego both went at the ninja suddenly and she was forced to defend herself. The girlfriends could not help smiling. They felt like they were getting Yori to loosen up a little. They wanted her to feel welcomed, like she was part of their team, because it would help them work better together.

Yori slipped right into line, going at each martial artist as they had just been going at each other. Kim and Shego also focused on taking each other down as well as Yori. After what seemed like a few minutes, but a half-hour, an alarm sounded. The noise signally their students would be arriving in roughly fifteen minutes. They needed to use that time to get prepared.

“That was a good workout,” Shego declared, trying to get her panting under control. She hated for them to see they had flustered her and worn her down a little. She would really hate for Kim to think she was getting old.

“It was,” Kim agreed and then a wicked little smile worked its way onto her face. “You know, the students could use such workouts as they prepare for the tournament we all really want to have,” she added.

“We’re not having that tournament,” the pale woman stated, sounding firm thanks to the fact that she expected to hear about that bit of business.

“Why not?” Kim wailed as if her lover just shot her. She threw her hands up.

“It would be so good for our students and morale,” Yori chimed in.

“There’s nothing wrong with morale,” Shego pointed out. If anything, they had too much morale. They could talk their students to go to war for them and the students would not even ask who they were fighting.

“But, it would still be good for the students!” Kim said.

“And boost their esteem and allow them to feel they have some say in how the school is run,” Yori added on.

Shego frowned. Sometimes, they were like twins the way that they backed each other up. She turned her back to the two, hoping she would be able to get away from them. Of course, that did not work because Kim had no problem grabbing her and spinning her around. Shego huffed as she was face-to-face-to-face with serious green and onyx eyes.

“We’re not doing it!” Shego roared, yanking her arm away from her girlfriend. She hoped the yelling bit would kill the plan, but it would seem Yori was even able to see through her at least a little bit by now because the ninja did not even flinch when she raised her voice.

“But, everyone wants to!” Yori pointed out.

“Everyone!” Kim howled with a pleading look on her face.

“I don’t want to do it, so I guess that everyone doesn’t want it,” Shego commented smugly, turning her nose up at them.

Kim started up early with her foolproof tactic. Before her lip started trembling, she stepped back to make sure Shego did not pinch her to make sure that she stopped. Once she was certain she was a good distance, she started with the full-blown, uncensored puppy-dog pout. Shego pulled at her own ebony mane when she saw the horrible, horrible face.

“Damn it, Princess, cut that shit out!” Shego ordered, pointing a threatening at her girlfriend.

“We want a tournament,” Kim said in a sing-song voice before putting her pout back in place.

“It would be good for the students,” Yori added.

Shego’s body started to shake from her frustration. She really had no desire to hear about the subject anymore. It would just be too much work and she knew there would be all sorts of annoyances that popped up while planning it. She just was not in the mood. She wanted to enjoy life while nothing was happening because she was sure with the way things were going something bad would end up happening in a little while, trying to shake her relationship up or ruin their lives or kill them or something just as trying.

“Stop doing that,” Shego commanded in a dangerously low tone.

Kim almost gulped, recognizing that tone of voice from when she and Shego had actually been enemies. Still, she did not waver, continuing to hold the puppy-dog pout, assured of its power. Shego’s trembling became more pronounced, making the two observant fighters think they were winning the battle. As long as Kim kept that face going, she and Yori were sure they would be getting that tournament.

Shego knew she had to think of something or they would have her. She tried to figure out what was the best way to get that damned expression off of her girlfriend’s face. And then a bright, brilliant idea came to mind. Well, it was bright and brilliant in her opinion, anyway.

A smirk graced smooth, oval features, causing Kim and Yori to flatter for just a moment. They both then quietly assured themselves Shego was bluffing. There was no way that she could get out of this one. She had to cave, they told themselves. She just had to.

“Do not flatter, Kim,” Yori said. Kim only nodded and maintained her expression.

The older woman then shocked both of them. She pulled her own secret weapon, which involved pulling her shirt and sports’ bra. She lifted the clothing above her head, revealing her bare chest. The move caught both Kim and Yori by surprise. Kim’s jaw and tongue hit the floor while a single drop of blood dripped out of Yori’s nose… only to be followed by a gush as if the ninja just sprung a leek.

“Shego!” Kim screamed her admonishment and stomped her foot while Yori fell back. The redhead quickly moved to catch the stunned kunoichi.

“Wow, I’m a knock out,” Shego remarked with a smile as she put her clothes back on properly. She could not believe Yori was actually floored by the sight of her topless.

“Stop being so arrogant! That was totally inappropriate,” Kim huffed, scowling at her lover for such crass and crude behavior.

“Oh, and hounding me about something I’ve already negated a trillion times is any better? And stop using that damned pout! It’s fucking manipulative,” Shego countered with her own scowl. _God, Kimmie’s supposed to be the good one, after all!_

Kim rolled her eyes and turned her attention to Yori. “You okay?” she asked the Japanese woman.

Yori did not answer; she only blushed. She could not believe she had had such a poor reaction, even though Shego’s behavior was totally improper. It was just that she was certain she could have handled the flash much better. After all, it was not like it was the first time she saw a pair of breasts. Okay, no one had ever flashed a pair at her like that, but still, they were not the first pair that she had ever witnessed.

“Oh, get up, you little prude,” Shego said, hoping that being rough with Yori would work like it did with damn near every other woman that she knew.

“I am not a prude!” Yori objected, leaping to her feet from her indignation. The only problem was that she got up way too quickly for her own good and fell right back into Kim’s arms thankfully.

Shego shamelessly laughed at scene before her. “Yeah, not a prude. You probably haven’t even given it up to the buffoon,” she remarked.

“Shego!” Kim once again reprimanded her loose-lipped lover and then her eyes narrowed, realizing what Shego was doing.

Before Kim could voice her suspicions that Shego was just trying to avoid the topic of the tournament, the door opened and a couple of the older students entered. Kim and Yori both glared at Shego, promising the war was not over yet. Shego smirked because she had won yet another battle.

“This isn’t over yet,” Kim swore as Yori stood on her own feet, making sure she was ready to face a day of teaching.

Shego waved them off, feeling like she was definitely ahead of the game. The three teachers parted ways to tend to their students as they started trickling in. Shego found out that her lover and Yori were not about to let her enjoy her little victory, though.

“Hey, don’t forget to ask your favorite teacher about the tournament everyone wants to have,” Kim casually mentioned as she hit the stairs.

“Oh, yes, be sure to remind her of its importance,” Yori chimed in before going down the hall to her classroom.

“Damn you two,” Shego growled as she was suddenly bombarded with questions and comments from her smart-mouthed students. It would seem she was not going to get any peace that day and it was quite possible she lost the battle from that little surprise attack. Kim and Yori could not help grinning as they heard the din from Shego’s wild bunch. “You’re supposed to be the good ones!” Shego shook her fist at the ceiling.

-8-8-8-8-

Bonnie sat at her desk with her shoes off and her eyes glued to a few documents in front of her. She jotted a few things down on a notepad next to her and was drawn out of her world of work, a very happy world when she was left to it, when her phone rang. She sighed, putting the things down to answer the phone.

“Rockwaller,” she answered, not bothering to look at the caller ID. She found out that would not have mattered anyway because it was the receptionist at the front desk of the firm.

“Miss Rockwaller, there is a woman here that would like to see you,” the receptionist reported.

Bonnie wondered who the woman could be. She knew it was not Shego because Shego would just barge in. Besides, the receptionist knew Shego, too, and knew not to try stopping her if she showed up. Kim was not usually one to make such a surprise, knowing work was somewhat sacred to Bonnie. Only Shego would be able to drag Kim up to the firm and as was stated before she would not be getting phone calls about Shego being there to see her.

She doubted it was Monique because Monique would have called before coming over to warn Bonnie not to go anywhere. Plus, she was pretty sure Monique was busy, getting ready to go back to work. So, Bonnie was not sure what woman could be out there to see her.

“It better not be Heather,” Bonnie muttered to herself as a frown marred her tanned face. “What does this woman look like?”

“To be honest… she looks like a street person,” the receptionist admitted, sounding a mix of confused, disgusted, and annoyed. His voice was usually smooth and slightly chipper, perfect for greeting people, but now it was low with a little sneer added in.

“A street person? What the hell? Look, I’m going to come out there to see who she is,” Bonnie said. She did not want this unknown person to come to her office and find out where she spent most of her day. It could be Medea pulling a trick or some other villain looking to harm her.

“All right.”

Bonnie hung up the phone and began to feel around for her shoes. She managed to slip them on quickly and then she stood up. She marched out of her office, making sure to lock the door behind her because she just did not trust her coworkers, and she went to the front of the building.

She caught sight of the woman she was sure the receptionist meant. The woman, a petite, possibly starving, blond woman was curled up in a corner, slightly hugging herself. She wore a sweatshirt, despite the warmth of the day. The shirt had definitely seen better days and that was probably years ago. Bonnie could not help wonder who the woman was and considered the woman probably just wanted to try to hire her, not that she thought the woman could afford her services. But, then again, depending on what the woman had to say, Bonnie was sure that somewhere in her heart, she could do pro bono work.

“Hello, are you the woman that wanted to see me?” Bonnie asked as she stood before the fragile-looking woman.

A blond head looked up and Bonnie got a good look into broken blue eyes. She knew that shattered look, the one that spoke of the soul being close to disappearing because torn pieces had been turned into dust. She had that look at one point in life. She wondered what could be bearing down on the blond woman so much she had such an expression.

“Bonnie Rockwaller?” the woman said, as if she was in a daze or disbelief. She then shook her head a little. “Yes, it’s you. Of course it’s you. I mean, I should know, anyway.”

“You should know?” Bonnie echoed with an arched eyebrow. Why should this woman know her?

“Yes, I should,” the woman replied in a low tone. It was a strange tone, like she was remorseful over something.

“Do you want to go somewhere else and talk?” Bonnie proposed. She had a feeling she would not get much out of the blond in the lobby of the firm and also she just felt her usually reserved compassionate side coming out and she really wanted to buy the blond some food. She could use the excuse of conferring with a client as to why she left, if anyone asked.

“Please,” the thin woman requested, bowing her head slightly.

Bonnie left the building with the blonde, noticing the receptionist eyeing her as if she was insane. He threw up his hands. Bonnie waved the look off and used it as a gesture to state that she could take care of herself. She was a little touched that he was worried about her. Apparently not everyone in the firm was an asshole.

The receptionist did not say anything as Bonnie left, but he made it a point to search for Shego’s number as soon as Bonnie was out of the building. Look, if something happened to Bonnie during work hours, Shego was going to be ready to tear everyone apart and he did not want to be on that list. So, if he was the one that at least made the call, he would be spared the carnage… or so he hoped.

Bonnie and the blond did not go too far. There was a decent café right around the corner. They sat down and did not have to wait long for service. Bonnie ordered some tea while urging the blond to order whatever she wanted. The blond took her up on that offer and ordered a steak with a baked potato. Bonnie did not mind.

“So, before we go any further, what’s your name?” Bonnie asked.

“Tina Mallory,” she stated her name with a blunt force as if she expected it to bean the lawyer over the head.

The name sounded familiar, but it took Bonnie moment to place it. She rolled it around in her head and then her gaze narrowed on the woman, looking quite like a lioness that picked its prey. The blond swallowed nervously and wondered if she had made a mistake going to Bonnie first. But, then again, out of the three, she was pretty sure Bonnie could not kill her in her a second. Bonnie would beg to differ, especially since there was a butter knife and a fork within her reach.

“What the fuck do you want?” Bonnie demanded with a snarl. All of her compassion and grace dried up in an instance. Fury and hatred consumed her in less time than she thought imaginable, making her face tense and her eyes blaze. People looked on, but Bonnie did not care. They did not matter. The only thing that mattered was this woman who had ruined her life, Kim’s life, and Shego’s life. Hell, Kim still had not really recovered, finding some people actually did not want help from a lesbian or someone in a polyamorous relationship.

Tina swallowed. “I deserve that. I deserve whatever you throw at me. Are you willing to hear me out, though?” Her voice trembled as she shook.

“You better start fucking talking right now before I call Kim and Shego and tell them who I’m sitting with,” the attorney ordered, pulling out her phone. She was actually loath to think what Shego might do to the decided bitch sitting across from her. It would not be pretty.

“I just want to apologize. I’ve had a long time to think about what happened and what I did. I think I’ve suffered enough for it,” the blond said.

“You’ve suffered enough?” Bonnie almost screamed from being so incredulous to what she was hearing. The damn woman who outed her, Kim, and Shego to the goddamn world thought that _she_ had suffered enough? _What the fuck?_

“Yes, I’ve suffered enough. I know all of my hardship is Shego’s doing. Now, you can tell her that I get the point. I was wrong in what I did to you. Your relationship, whatever the hell is was, was none of my business. I definitely shouldn’t have sold those pictures,” Tina said, as if that was seriously her apology, Bonnie noted.

“No shit!” Bonnie hissed. “Of course our relationship was none of your goddamn business and you had no fucking right to take those pictures! Now, I don’t know what the hell Shego might have done to you in revenge, but I sure as shit would support it! Do you have any fucking clue what type of pain you put us through?” she demanded, hitting the table with her palm in a rage.

“I know now,” Tina admitted in a low tone while glancing away. She grabbed a nearby napkin and wrung it in her hands.

Tina had suffered for almost as long as the trio thanks to those damned pictures she had taken. She could not figure it out for a long time, why everything she seemed to touch crumbled in her hand since the day she sold them. And then, one day, it came to her after her former colleague, Sherm, pointed out that her life had gone to shit just about the time he wrote his article about the Enriching Green Lotus martial arts school, run by Kim, Shego, and their silent partner Bonnie. She realized then she had crossed the wrong woman, knowing good and well just how dangerous Shego could be. How could she be so stupid, she often asked herself. She had allowed greed to blind her.

“Well, fuck your knowing now! You know your fucking pictures got me fired! We lost our home, our families found out about us through this shit you made, and we are still trying to pick up the goddamn pieces of our lives! You coming here and apologizing just because your life is hell doesn’t excuse the fact that you damn near ruined us!” Bonnie pointed out.

“I know,” Tina sobbed, head down and tears falling. Underneath it all, she knew everything that Bonnie said was true and she felt like the worst person alive because of it.

The crying caught Bonnie by surprise. She had expected the daring ex-reporter to fire back with some verbal assault or another half-assed apology. Tears had been the farthest thing from her mind, yet there they were, cascading down a slightly dirty face that was dried out from the sun.

“I’ve never felt so bad in all my life! I mean, I know Shego is evil and everything, but I figured if she was with Kim Possible and Kim Possible was allowing her to do these things to me, I must be a horrible person,” Tina explained, sniffling as she spoke to try and stop crying. The torn tissue in her hand was used to wipe her face, which did not help.

Bonnie was silent, figuring she was should let the blond speak and let her pour it all out. She did not bother to point out that she and Kim really had no clue Shego had been after revenge for those pictures all those life-changing months ago. Kim would have undoubtedly put a stop to it if she knew, especially considering how bad Bonnie imagined it to be if it left the woman in front of her right now as broken as she seemed to be. Bonnie was not sure if she would have tried to stop Shego, but part of her believed she would not.

Tina sniffled and shook her head. “You know… I always admired Kim Possible when I was younger, thought she was incredible. When I stop and think about what I must’ve done to her life, I feel even worse. I know it’s stupid and maybe shallow that I had to lose everything in life to realize this, but as they say it’s better late than never.”

Bonnie nodded. “I suppose…” She did not want to accept that, but something in her had calmed at the sight of those tears.

Tina lifted her head and gazed at Bonnie with those same shattered blue eyes. “So, Miss Rockwaller, I want to apologize to you. I’m sorry for everything you went through because of me. I was wrong. It was wrong of me to take those pictures. If I fucked up your life half as much as mine is fucked up right now, I know this apology doesn’t mean a damn thing, but it’s really the only thing I have left.”

Bonnie was silent for a moment. She was actually a breath away from saying “Fuck your apology,” but the words refused to leave her mouth. She sighed and looked down, just needing to escape those eyes for a second. They were much too familiar and then hit Bonnie in places she did not want them to.

“I accept your apology,” Bonnie stated calmly, sincerely. What was the point in holding a grudge? It would only hurt an already broken woman and life went on anyway.

Tina sighed and her whole body seemed to go light right before Bonnie’s eyes. The attorney could almost see the burden lifted off of the blonde’s shoulders. Tina definitely could feel some of the weight taken off of her, but she still had amends to make.

Before Tina could say anything else, their orders were brought to them. Bonnie suspected this was done on purpose. The waiter had to notice the calm moment between them and the tension was gone. He quickly put everything down and rushed off, not wanting to get caught in the next round if there was one. Tina was about to speak again anyway, but Bonnie held up her hand to stop her. She then motioned for Tina to go ahead and eat.

“Thanks,” the blond muttered graciously.

Bonnie shook her head, indicating that it was no problem. “Enjoy your food.”

Bonnie watched as the blond wolfed down the meal as if it was the first one she had in days. From what Tina had said, it probably was. Bonnie felt her throat go dry and her guts tied themselves in knots as her compassion crept back into her system and she dared to wonder what her pale paramour had done to the woman. She did not feel anger toward Shego, but she felt sorry for Tina. Damn it, she knew that was Kim’s influence because the old her certainly would have cheered for Shego and what she had done to Tina, no matter how harsh it seemed.

“I was hoping to apologize to Kim and Shego today, too,” Tina suddenly admitted. Most of the steak was gone and she had eaten the entire baked potato, skin and all.

“But, you’re scared?” Bonnie guessed. _It has to be scary to think that the two most powerful women on Earth were pissed at you. It has to be even worse when one of those women has actively destroyed you and you feel like the ‘good one’ just let it happen_.

Tina only nodded. She figured if Shego had no problem ruining everything in her life, then physically harming her did not seem like a stretch by far. She was sure that as soon as Shego saw her and figured out who she was, the former villainess would fry her. She doubted that even the heroic Kim Possible would do anything about it either.

“I’m sure they will accept your apology, too,” Bonnie tried to assure her. She was almost certain Kim would accept the apology once she looked into Tina’s eyes, but she knew Shego could hold a damn grudge. Shego might take it all to the grave with her. Hell, Bonnie wished she still had it in her because it felt wrong to let this woman off the hook. But, then again, it felt good to let go her animosity and somewhat ease Tina’s suffering.

Sighing, Tina nodded and hoped Bonnie was right. She feared they would give her what she figured they thought she deserved, though. She locked eyes with Bonnie again and felt like she was going to make a huge request.

“I was hoping you’d come with me when I went to the school to speak with them,” Tina confessed.

Bonnie was silent again. She really did not want to be in the crossfire that could possibly happen. She imagined how badly things could go if Shego, or even Kim on the off chance, thought she betrayed them by accepting Tina’s apology or bringing Tina there to apologize to them. She did not want to get into an argument with them, especially not now. It was too close to a precious time and things were going so well. She just did not want to deal with her girlfriends being upset with her right now.

“I think you have to deal with them one on one like you did with me. I’m not going to let you use my presence to try to manipulate their feelings. If they don’t want to forgive you, that’s their business,” Bonnie said plainly.

Tina nodded, accepting that answer. She appeared quite sullen by it, but that did not change Bonnie’s mind. They parted ways shortly afterwards. Tina made sure to thank Bonnie for the meal. The lawyer waved it off. She felt good about being able to help someone in need, even if that person had been very close to ruining her life. She felt good about being able to put that down, though. She felt good from forgiving Tina. It was an… enlightening feeling.

“I suppose I should thank Kimmie when I see her. She taught me to forgive,” Bonnie considered.

Bonnie returned to work with a small smile on her face. The receptionist thought that was a good thing. He was just glad Bonnie had come back because he doubted the building would be able to survive a pissed off Shego.

-8-8-8-8-

Tina stood outside of the Enriching Green Lotus. It was her first time back there since she had taken pictures of the trio so many months ago. She saw there were still students in the front room, so she did not enter the building. She waited for people to start leaving and then eased her way into the building. Shego seemed to notice her almost immediately, but surprisingly enough did not make a scene.

Shego approached Tina like a great white shark that got a lock on an injured seal when all of the people were out, though. The thin blond could not help gulping as the former villainess stood before her, almost bearing down on her. She felt like she shrank a few feet as Shego glared at her with those mesmerizing grass-colored eyes.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Shego inquired, not sounding angry, but smug. The smirk on her face was so cruel, like she looked forward to torturing the broken woman before her.

“I came to apologize to you and Kim Possible,” Tina answered, her voice much lower than when she was speaking to Bonnie. Her eyes found the floor to be quite intriguing, not wanting to see the moment when Shego ate her alive. Her heart pounded and she was scared her throat would close completely if she did not put some distance between herself and the overwhelming force that was Shego.

Shego laughed darkly and circled the blond, who hunched over. “Apologize to me and Kim? What the hell makes you think we want your worthless ass apology?” 

“I don’t have anything else to offer,” Tina muttered, trying to back up, but Shego knew she had the advantage. She followed until Tina backed up into the wall and Shego was practically on top of her.

“No, I don’t suppose you do,” Shego remarked, smirk still in place.

“Shego, what’re you doing?” Kim asked as she descended the stairs to see the scene of Shego pressed against Tina. She could see Shego was trying to intimidate someone who looked like a street person. She could only guess the story behind that one.

“Oh, Kimmie,” Shego said, turning her attention to her lover. “I’d like you to meet my good friend, Tina Mallory.” She knew that her girlfriend would get the name in no time.

Olive eyes blinked. “Tina Mallory? What the hell do you want?” Kim demanded as she stormed over to the scene like a category four hurricane. She would be damned if she was going to let that nosy reporter bitch ruin their lives again!

“I just came to say I’m sorry!” Tina practically cried as she curled into herself, not sure what to expect and frightened out of what little mind that she had left.

Kim pulled back, stunned by the outburst and the obviously fright in the woman. She stepped away while Shego continued to just loom over Tina, clearly taking joy in her discomfort. Kim took her lover by the arm and pulled her back a little, earning a frown from Shego.

“Kimmie, don’t tell me you’re going to accept that,” Shego begged, eyes pleading with her love to not fall prey for one flimsy apology.

“Right now, I just want you to stop scaring her. She’s obviously afraid and from what I can tell she’s not having a good day. I think we should at least hear her out, especially since it takes a lot for someone to apologize. You should know that,” Kim pointed out.

“I don’t need to apologize since I’m never wrong,” Shego countered pointedly, scowling at her lover.

“Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, babe,” Kim remarked, rolling her eyes. But, then again, she often felt the same way. No reason to say that last bit out loud, though, and she turned her attention back to the blond cowering by the wall. “It’s all right, Miss Mallory. We’re not going to hurt you,” she tried to assure the frightened woman.

Shego scoffed and folded her arms across her chest. She could not believe Kim had just respectfully referred to the woman as “Miss Mallory.” Kim ignored the noise and the action, keeping her attention on Tina.

“Now, why are you here?” Kim asked calmly with all the patience in the world it seemed. Just what Tina Mallory had hoped for from the famous Kim Possible.

Tina opened her mouth, but her teeth chattered. She closed her mouth and licked her lips. She tried to breathe calmly, normally, hoping it would help her talk. Instead, she just felt more pressure on her chest and nothing came out when she opened her mouth.

“It’s all right. Say what you need to say,” Kim gently urged. “It’s all right.”

Tina nodded. “I came to apologize to both of you…” she said that quickly and then had to pause. Her mouth trembled again and she took another breath as Kim continued to look at her with kind eyes. She licked her lips once more before continuing. “I finally realize how badly I must’ve made you feel. I didn’t have a right to take those pictures or write anything about you like I did. I invaded your privacy without any care or regard to what it would do to you and I’m sure it had fucked your lives up pretty well,” she explained in a low, ashamed voice as she focused on the ground.

“Bullshit,” Shego called her bluff, glaring at the former reporter. She was surprised when Kim did not scold her.

“Miss Mallory, please, lift your head,” Kim requested.

Tina did as she was asked and this allowed Kim a good look into her eyes. The redhead focused on dull blue eyes and sighed. She had not seen eyes like that in a long time. Beyond the broken look, she was able to see sincerity, which influenced her decision more than anything else. Kim smiled, only a little, but it was enough.

“I accept your apology and I hope that makes whatever you’re carrying just a little bit lighter,” Kim said in a gentle tone with a nod.

Tina let loose a grin and a laugh that sounded close to a sob. Kim could practically see some of the weight rise off of her and that was good. Kim smiled more. But, the moment was short-lived.

“Princess! How the fuck can you just accept that bullshit apology?” Shego demanded with her fiery eyes set on her lover now. She stepped closer to Kim, like her looming would intimidate the hero.

“Because it’s not a bullshit apology. Shego, you can’t hold a grudge forever. It’s only going to hurt you. Now, she’s being honest and she really is sorry for what she did. We obviously can’t ask more of her because she can’t take back what she did,” Kim pointed out.

“I can damn well try,” Shego declared, pointing to herself. She turned and glared at Tina. “You purposely fucked up our lives, just for a scoop and some fucking money,” she snarled and then she said something she had been dying to say to the woman. “Fuck you!”

Tina flinched and drew back just a little bit, not sure what to expect from the former villainess. “I’m sorry,” she repeated.

“Shut the fuck up with your sorries! Fuck you and fuck your apology. You wouldn’t even give a shit if me and my mother hadn’t put it to your ass. If you could’ve just taken that money and moved the fuck on, you’d never think to apologize. You’d be fucking living it up somewhere, not caring about what the fuck happened to us,” Shego roared, pointing an accusing finger at the frightened reporter.

“Shego, what do you mean you and Isabel put it to her?” Kim asked, narrowing her gaze on her lover. Great, all she needed to know was that Shego had done something wrong. Bonnie would probably have kittens if things led to Shego’s arrest.

“Look, this bitch wants to leech off of me, then she’s got to pay the price. I’m not all ‘forgive and forget’ because she looks pathetic and she’s gone through some shit. We’ve all gone through some shit. Fuck her. I don’t have time for this shit,” Shego declared and she started to walk away.

Tina appeared ready to break down and sob. Kim huffed and followed her love, blocking her path. Shego growled and glared down at her girlfriend.

“Then what did you expect to gain by fucking up her life, Shego? You want something from her. You just want to see her in pain and suffering? If that’s the case, you didn’t change like I thought you did,” Kim said grimly.

“And if I didn’t?” Shego challenged Kim with a scowl.

Kim narrowed her eyes again and frowned. “Then I have no clue what I’m doing with you.”

“Oh, now, you’re going to try to guilt me into accepting her apology, Possible? You don’t think I can say ‘fuck you’ to you just as easily as I say it to her?” Shego inquired in a hiss with a daring glint in her eyes.

“If you can, then we’ve been living a lie for a long time,” Kim stated, maintaining her position. “I know you, Shego. You don’t want to hang onto that hatred and you know there’s no reason to. There had to be a reason you and your mother did what you did to Miss Mallory and I know for a fact it wasn’t just for her to suffer for the sake of suffering. You’re nothing like that,” she said. She knew her girlfriend and she knew what Shego was capable of. Right now, she knew Shego just wanted to hold onto the anger for no other reason than it was what she was familiar with and forgiveness seemed like she was giving up.

“You just got all the fucking answers, don’t you, Princess?” Shego demanded as she folded her arms across her chest and cocked her hip out to the side.

Kim shook her head. “What the hell, Shego? What else can this woman give you to make you put this down? She wants to move on, and really, we need to, too. Yes, she hurt us and from what I can tell you hurt her. If you want to hold onto your grudge forever, you’re only going to ruin yourself in the long run. What are you getting out of hurting her further?”

“Satisfaction,” Shego stated as hard as she possibly could.

Kim scoffed. “Really? You’re satisfied seeing you did that? No, you’re not. Maybe when you started it, yeah, you were. But, you’ve seen the punishment has run its course.”

“No, it hasn’t,” Shego insisted. It would never be enough, not after what that woman did. It _could_ never be enough or she had failed.

“Yes, it has. Now, we’re about to celebrate a total year together, a fresh start at a new year of being together. Do you want to drag old baggage into something new when you have a chance to put it down?” Kim inquired, eyes pleading to know the answers.

Shego looked away, feeling a ping in her stomach. “How do I forgive her for hurting you and the Duchess?” she begged to know in a low tone. How the hell could she let something like that go? She loved Kim and Bonnie more than anything else in the world and that woman had hurt them. How could she just let that go?

Kim smiled a little and stepped closer to her. Mindful of their audience, Kim simply took Shego’s hand. She used her thumb to draw slow, tight circles on the top of Shego’s hand. Shego sniffled a bit.

“Love, you have to let it go at some point. Do you really want to be pissed at her forever? Do you want to try breaking her even more than you already have? What good does it to any of us? I mean, you’ve seen the look in her eyes. That woman is done. She can’t give you any more than she has. If you keep on, all you’re doing is kicking an already scared puppy and I would hate for you to have it on your conscience when the puppy finally decides she can’t take anymore kicking,” Kim replied. 

Shego sighed and rubbed her forehead a little, taking in what her lover said. She was not one to kick puppies; hell if she knew why that was, but she just knew that was the way it was. She turned her eyes to Tina, a ghost of a human being from what she could see. She sighed.

“Why the hell do you always have to make sense, Kim?” Shego asked in a small, caring voice.

Kim shrugged and Shego stepped away from her. Shego walked back over to Tina, who still seemed to cower in the presence of the super-powered woman, even though it was clear Shego’s demeanor had changed. Tina knew Shego could change on a dime, especially considering she just witnessed it.

Shego ignored the feeling of shame that dared try to ooze into her body because of the way that Tina was so blatantly scared of her. She told herself she should be happy for the woman’s fear because it meant that Tina knew not to fuck with her family anymore, but it was not satisfying. She just felt sorry for this pathetic thing in front of her, but not to the degree Kim did.

“I can’t forgive you for what you did. I just can’t. You don’t have a single clue as to what these two mean to me and what kind of shit I went through, they went through, we went through thanks to you and whatever spotlight you were going after. And I know you wouldn’t be remotely sorry if you got away with it. But, I’ll let you know that as of this moment, I’m done with you and your life. You go do whatever you can and I’ll never think about you again, provided what you do has nothing to do with me and mine. This is the best I can do,” Shego said to the woman. This was the best she could put it down.

“You won’t accept my apology?” Tina asked, shocked and pleading for at least that. 

“I’ll take it for what it is, the only thing you have. So, I will accept it. Consider it the last thing I ever take from you as long as you stay the fuck out of my life and my girlfriends’ lives,” Shego said.

“I will,” the former reporter promised with the a nod. 

“Then our business is done. There’s the door,” Shego said, pointing to the aforementioned portal.

“Thank you,” Tina said quite humbly and she left the building without making a fuss. 

“God, I wish that I could’ve held onto that for a little longer,” Shego muttered while turning her attention back to Kim.

“Why would you want to hold onto that a little longer? Wasn’t it weighing you down?” Kim asked, reaching out for Shego’s hand.

“Of course, but the way that she hurt you and Bonnie.” Shego just shook her head and then pulled Kim to her. She wrapped her arms around Kim’s waist. “Feels like I’m not treating you guys right by just letting her go like this.” 

“You are treating us perfectly. Now, you can focus all your attention on us and it’s a good thing, too, with our anniversary coming up. I’m sure you need the extra money for Bonnie’s gift, anyway,” Kim remarked with a bright smile.

Shego laughed and smiled. She then glanced in the hall that led to the back rooms of the first floor. She turned her eyes back to Kim. 

“Is ninja-prude still here?” Shego inquired, using her new nickname for Yori.

“I heard that!” Yori answered from the back.

Shego smiled. She had hit gold with that nickname in her opinion. It got quite a rise out of the kunoichi and she was just going to run the name into the ground. It was nice to see that Yori could get bent out of shape. It showed there were emotions underneath that calm ninja exterior. 

“Think she heard the rest of that?” Shego asked.

“She did more than likely, but this is Yori we’re talking about. It’s not like she’s going to say anything,” Kim pointed out. 

Shego nodded. “Hey, ninja-prude, lock up on your way out!” she called. She and Kim were going to go upstairs to check on a certain cat that did not know what was good for her and then maybe go up to the roof for a little while. Just to enjoy some alone time together.

“Stop calling me that!” Yori actually barked. It was impressive enough for Shego to nod in approval. 

“You’re going to wear this thing out, aren’t you?” Kim asked Shego, referring to the rather unflattering moniker she had graced Yori with.

“Hell fucking yeah,” Shego replied with giant grin. 

Kim shook her head in a disapproving manner, but she actually thought the nickname was good for Yori, even if it was unflattering. It got the ninja out of her shell. Kim wanted Yori to feel like she belonged and it was hard to tell if that vibe ever got through because Yori was always so reserved. But, little by little, from arguing over the tournament to screaming at Shego over the nickname, it seemed like Yori was getting used to them.

Kim could not wait to tell Ron the good news. Sometimes, he thought Yori was too reserved for her own good and, so, he would like to know that she seemed to be opening up at work. He wanted her to feel like she belonged somewhere, not just with him, but in general. Kim wanted Yori to feel that way, too. 

The couple made their way upstairs, finding Cali sleeping on the couch with her sippy cup still in her hand. Shego removed the cup while Kim fixed a blanket that was halfway on the cat-girl. Shego then went to Kim’s side.

“Can we go upstairs for a little while?” Shego requested. 

Kim only nodded. Shego put her arm around Kim’s waist and led her upstairs. They went passed the garden and settled on the edge of the roof. Kim curled into Shego.

“We should come up here more often and enjoy the view,” Kim commented. 

“Yeah…” Shego agreed.

“You want to talk about Tina?”

Shego shook her head. “Nope. Just want to hold you and look at the view. I’ll enjoy that a lot more than talking about someone who doesn’t exist to me.” 

Kim nodded. “It would probably be better to do this with Bonnie then.”

“It would, but she’s not here. You’re ruining the moment, you know?” 

Kim snickered and decided to keep quiet. Shego would say something if she needed to. For a long moment, Shego just held her and took in the view.

“I did need to put it down, but I’ll never forgive her for what she did to you and to Bonnie. Never,” Shego said. 

“I don’t expect you to if that’s the case. I just know you wouldn’t want to keep hurting someone who’s essentially broken,” Kim replied.

“Yeah…” Shego sighed. “You know me well, Possible.” 

Kim smiled. “Of course, I do. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

They stayed up there a little longer, just enjoying the silence and closeness between them. But, they needed to go back downstairs and make sure Cali was all right. Plus, they needed to get things ready for Bonnie when she came home. Her tea and cookies would be a nice surprise. After that, Shego went to the bathroom to take a shower. 

Kim went and made herself comfortable at the computer. She scanned through websites, trying to find the perfect gifts for her sometimes high-maintenance girlfriends. As she said earlier, their anniversary was approaching. She could not believe they had been together for a whole year. _What a crazy year_ , she thought.

“I hope we have a lot more years together, though,” Kim muttered to the air, a smile settling on her face.

She was pretty sure what she was going to get Bonnie. The latest shoes would be enough for Bonnie to squeal and leap into her arms. She had already made sure that Shego was not getting the same gifts as she was. Aside from the shoes, she would get Bonnie a matching purse and coat. She was going to be broke for a long time afterwards.

“But, I want something more than just that,” Kim murmured. She was a firm believer that gifts should have some personal meaning as well as being something a person wanted. She needed to get something personal for Bonnie as well, but at least she got the thing Bonnie wanted out of the way.

Shego was the tough one to shop for, though. What was she supposed to get for someone that had everything? She was not in the mood to get Shego a bunch of monster movie DVDs like they did on her birthday. For some reason, anniversary gifts seemed like they should have some level of sophistication to them. So, Kim got a little idea, but first she had to make sure the coast was clear.

She heard the water going and the faint sound of singing, a habit Shego picked up from Kim. The redhead grinned, knowing she had time to make the phone call she needed to. She grabbed the phone and hit a button on the speed-dial. 

“Funny how much Shego acts like she hates Isabel, yet it’s her cell number that made it into the phone,” Kim remarked under her breath. Shego had a “perfectly good” reason for it, or so she had sworn when she first put the number in the phone. Apparently, Kane lost phones like most people lost pocket change, which annoyed his wife and children to no end considering the way he liked to wander the globe at the drop of a hat lately.

“Hello, is this my cranky daughter or one of her charming mates?” Isabel’s voice rang through. 

“Um… I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m charming,” Kim replied with a light laugh.

“Kim! Nonsense, dear, of course you’re charming. How else do you get two women like that to fall for you?” 

“Luck?” Kim remarked.

Isabel let loose a breezy laugh. “Dear, Zeus himself would not be so lucky. Now, what can I do for you?”

“Well, our anniversary is coming up in a few days. I’m not totally sure what to get Shego. I mean, I want to get her something personal, but when we built the house, Shego seems to have taken care of all of her personal things.” Well, anything that was personal and useful anyway.

“Pity you can’t just buy her another pinball machine. I didn’t know it was your anniversary, though. Congratulations. This anniversary is to celebrate all three of you being together for a year?” 

“Yes, ma’am. It’s not really the official date because it’s hard to pinpoint the expect moment all three of us were together. But, we all picked an official day around the time we all agreed that we were together as a trio. So, what can you tell me about Shego that might help?” Kim requested. 

“Comic books!” a voice that was unmistakably Kane’s screamed in the background.

“Comic books?” Kim echoed, thinking Kane was probably just being crazy as he had a clear habit of being.

“Ignore my idiot husband,” Isabel said, as if it was nothing, and then took a moment to yell at her spouse. “Kane, shut up! You don’t get the woman you love comic books for her anniversary, even if she is borderline obsessed with them!” 

“You get me comic books all the time and I love them! Shona would love it!” Kane replied.

“Wait, timeout, Shego reads comic books?” Kim asked, grinning from ear to ear. How the hell had Shego managed to hide that little tidbit?

“Yes, she does. You haven’t seen her with any? Kimmie, let me tell you, your tough and gruff girlfriend is just a little nerd like her daddy. Comic-book-reading, Star-Wars-loving, light-saber-fighting, Star-Trek-tracking, cartoon-watching nerds,” Isabel remarked.

“We’re not nerds! How can people as cool as us be nerds?” Kane demanded in the background. His tone indicated he was doing his usual overreacting and probably grinning madly while doing it. 

“Yeah, so Shego is actually a nerd. She’ll appreciate little nerdy things more than anything else, but I do know one thing you could use to help you if you want to go all out for her. Shego is also very much into art,” Isabel said.

“Now, that I do know,” Kim replied. “I just can’t afford most of the art that she likes.” _But, maybe…_ Part of an idea formed in her mind. 

“Well, I can tell you a gallery with some pieces by artists that Shego likes and they won’t ask for your first born child as payment.”

“Thank you. I appreciate it, especially since I don’t have a first born child.”

“I hope you plan on one, though,” Isabel commented.

Kim stammered, unsure how to respond and Isabel laughed for a moment. She then quickly rattled the information off to Kim, adding some of the artists she should look for. The phone call ended as Kim heard the shower turning off. By that time, she heard the front door opening, too, so she knew it was time to shut the computer down. She got up from her seat in time to see Bonnie coming toward her. 

“Hey, baby,” Bonnie said as she practically fell into Kim’s arms. The redhead smiled as she pressed the lawyer to her. She also placed a delicate kiss to the brunette’s lips.

“Hey, love. How was your day?” Kim asked, loosing Bonnie’s tie for her. 

“Fine, even though it started out a bit strange. Did a woman named Tina Mallory find her way you guys?” Bonnie countered while pulling away a little bit because Kim was now trying to help her out of her clothing.

“She came by, yes. You saw her today, too?” Kim inquired while slipping Bonnie’s jacket off of her shoulders. 

“She saw me before she saw you two. She wanted to apologize for almost ruining our lives. For a little while, all I wanted to do was curse her out. Hell, I did curse her out for a few seconds,” Bonnie reported as Kim slipped the jacket from her shoulders and hung it on the back of a chair.

“But, in the end, you accepted,” Kim finished the story as her fingers worked on the buttons on Bonnie’s shirt.

“I had to. She was at the end of her rope. Broken. I remember being like that. And I remember there was only one thing, one person that could save me,” Bonnie commented in a whisper. 

Kim only offered a half-smile in response, which did not seem to be enough for her girlfriend. Bonnie came in for a surprisingly passionate kiss, crashing her body against Kim’s firm form. Kim, of course, did not fight the embrace and held onto Bonnie as the tanned woman seemed to melt into her.

“You guys starting stuff without me?” Shego’s smart-ass voice interrupted the moment… or at least tried to.

Kim did not pull away from Bonnie until she was certain the lawyer was weak in the knees from kissing. Bonnie leaned against Kim for support, which the hero gave by putting her arm around Bonnie’s waist. Bonnie had to catch her breath. 

“I get the feeling I missed something,” Shego remarked with a light chuckle.

“Just know that you did the right thing by letting it all go between us and Tina,” Kim replied.

Shego was not sure what that meant, but decided not to question it. Bonnie regained her composure and went to take a shower while Shego went into the kitchen to contemplate the secrets of the universe, and also what to make for dinner. Kim got Bonnie’s usual snack from the counter and left it on the living room table. Even though Cali took up the whole sofa, Bonnie still needed to watch her stories. Shego joined her after putting the food on and Kim joined them after a shower. They were all huddled up on the floor. 

“This isn’t that bad,” Bonnie commented. They were not lying down as they would on the couch, but they were all snuggled together in their typical order.

“It’s not, but the floor is starting to hurt my ass a little,” Shego admitted, shifting a couple of times to relieve some of the aching in her butt. 

“Aw, want me to rub it?” Bonnie teased.

“You could kiss it if you keep things up,” Shego replied with a smart-aleck smirk on her face.

Bonnie rolled her eyes. “So, what are we going to do on our anniversary?” she asked. It was the one thing they knew they had to discuss because it would be crazy for all of them to plan surprises and then be in a jam when they could only do one or two. 

“Let’s keep it simple for once,” Kim requested.

“Why?” Bonnie complained in a slightly whiny tone. She was looking forward to being spoiled to death by Shego!

“Because we’ve got a sick cat to keep an eye on,” Kim reminded them while motioning to the sleeping body behind. 

The other two conceded that point. Shego turned around to glare at the dozing feline, but then she got an idea. She turned to look at Kim.

“Princess, do you think your mother would cat-sit for us?” Shego proposed.

“Cat-sit? I don’t know if she would do it with Cali in that form. I mean, if Cali gets the stitches out in a few days and my mom gets to see that Cali is just a cat, then it might work,” the redhead answered. 

“Great! If she does, I’m going to take us on a weekend getaway. I know this great retreat. Wonderful restaurant and a hotel with fantasy rooms,” Shego explained with a naughty grin.

“Why do I get the feeling that images of slave girls are dancing through your mind?” Bonnie commented. 

Shego nodded, slow and deliberate. “Yeah.”

“You’re such a perv,” Bonnie quipped, rolling her eyes.

“Keep it up and you’ll be calling me, Mistress Perv. And let’s not act like I’m the only one with fantasies around here because we all know that if you had your way we’d be stuck in some strange bondage unit, but you’d give Kimmie the lead,” Shego argued.

“You’re just upset that I’d let my baby have the lead while I would just whip you,” Bonnie countered while nuzzling Kim, who just grinned a rather dopey smile. 

“Please. I’d just whip your baby,” Shego countered with a devilish smile and she held up a threatening fist. “But, seriously, would you want to do that for the weekend?”

“Sounds good,” Kim and Bonnie agreed.

“Just need to see how the damn cat is doing in a few days. She is so lucky she saved your ass, Duchess, or I would just suggest we live her ass here for the weekend to fend for herself,” Shego declared.

Kim and Bonnie did not bother calling Shego’s bluff on that one. They both knew that Shego loved Cali almost as much as Kim did when they thought that she was just a simple cat. It would take time to see that if Bonnie could now love Cali in the cat form after what Cali did for her in the humanoid form. But, it would also take time to see if Shego could love Cali like she used now that she knew what Cali was.

-*-(New day)-*-

“Cali, you really are a medical miracle,” Ann commented as she finished up her examination of the cat-girl, who tried her best to merge with the sofa to avoid the doctor.

“You’re going to take her stitches out?” Kim asked, petting Cali’s head to keep her calm. The feline seemed to twitch anytime Ann came near her and Kim could not understand why. After all, her mom was a sweet and kind woman, just the type of person Cali should have taken to, in Kim’s opinion anyway. 

“They’re not serving a purpose anymore, so yes, I am going to take them out,” Ann answered.

“Rejoice, Cali, you’re getting your stitches out,” Kim said with a smile. 

“Do I get to go back to normal?” Cali asked with hope in her voice. Her eyes were wide and bright.

“Definitely,” Kim replied. 

Cali was quite ready to turn back-flips from that news. She could not wait to get back to her four legs, smaller body, and drinking out of a bowl. _What the hell is the deal with the cups anyway?_ She hated she could not get the taste of milk on her whole tongue through a cup unless she swished it around in her mouth, which was not an enjoyable thing to do with milk.

“Just wait for me to take the stitches out first,” Ann warned. Cali nodded and the doctor out to work. 

Cali watched Ann the whole time, anticipating the moment she would be free. Kim laughed, seeing how eager Cali was. Ann sighed as soon as she was done. 

“All right, Cali. The sutures are all gone,” Ann announced.

“You can change now,” Kim said.

Cali wasted no time turning back into her cat form. Ann and Kim gasped as a flame covered Cali for a brief moment and then she was gone, replaced by a little calico cat. She rolled off of the couch and was obviously ready to go get into some trouble, but she was stopped. She got about a foot away from the sofa before Shego scooped her up. 

“Hey, hey, hey, you’re still not totally healthy, so we don’t need you going on one of your little journeys and getting stuck or lost or eaten by bears,” Shego remarked, cradling Cali. Absently, she stroked Cali’s neck.

The feline’s face dropped. The pout was evident even in her cat form. Shego was not moved by the expression. Cali wondered what it would take to get Shego to give into her whims just a few times.

Ann watched as Shego carried Cali off to another part of the large apartment. She was a bit shocked to see that Cali was just a cat… a cat that could transform, but a cat nonetheless. Kim chose that moment to turn to her mother and make a request. 

“Hey, Mom, do you think you could watch Cali for the weekend?” Kim asked with a hopeful smile.

“Watch her?” Ann echoed in a puzzled tone as she turned to face her daughter. 

“Yeah… it’s um… well, it’s our anniversary coming up and we want to go away for the weekend… alone,” Kim tried to explain without feeling too embarrassed over what she was saying. It was not working well if her stained red cheeks meant anything. Her face felt so hot. She doubted she could be more embarrassed right now, feeling she basically just admitted to her mother that she and her girlfriends had sex. Intellectually, she knew her mother knew that, but still, this was too much for her.

Ann blinked hard at that news. “Your anniversary?”

“Yeah,” Kim said and tried her best not to get offended by how shocked her mother seemed to be that they had an anniversary like any other couple would. Sure, it was a little harder for them to pinpoint the moment they were all in a relationship together, but they had an anniversary.

“Wow, has it been a year? Well, I suppose it hasn’t been that long for me. I’m happy for you, Kimmie. I’ll take Cali…” Ann agreed hesitantly. She pulled a face for a moment before she straightened up.

“Don’t worry, Mom. In that form, she’s a regular cat. She’ll sleep most of the day, rub up against your leg for a little attention, and beg for tuna when she gets hungry. You might want to keep her out of your room, though,” Kim commented. She just thought about that and she was happy that Cali had not asked any questions about the things that she had seen the trio do in front of her when they thought that she was just a cat. _Why the hell does this keep coming back to sex while I’m talking to my mother?_  

Ann nodded and hoped her daughter was not exaggerating. It was easier to talk Ann into cat-sitting than it was to get Cali to believe it would be all right to be in the care of other humans for a couple of days. The cat seemed to think she was being abandoned, which caused her to go hide underneath the couch, knowing they could not reach her under there. In her mind, if they could not get her out of the apartment, they could not abandon her.

“Cali, come on!” Kim pled. She was crouched by the couch, trying to reach under to grab the stubborn cat.

“You’ll love it at Kimmie’s parents’ house! They’ll feed you all kinds of fish and milk and everything,” Bonnie promised.

“Cali, if you don’t get your narrow ass from under there, I’ll just lift up the sofa and then I’m going to put my fucking boot in your ass!” Shego declared. 

“Shego!” the younger pair scolded her immediately.

“What? I’m lying, but she doesn’t know that,” Shego pointed out.

“Well, she does now,” Bonnie countered.

Shego started muttering something about the “damn sentient cat.” She started to lift the couch, thinking that a bluff might help. Cali zoomed off with Kim and Bonnie giving chase. Cali attempted to find another hiding place before they caught her, but the trio did not give up.

Eventually, they caught the misbehaving feline, but not before a lot of empty threats and foul language from everyone, including Cali. It was a good thing Cali could not speak in her cat form or they might have left her on a corner for the weekend or washed her mouth out with soap.

“Cali, I promise you, my parents are the sweetest, kindest people ever. You might not want to come back home with us by the end of the weekend,” Kim remarked with a smile as she cuddled the chubby cat to her chest as they marched downstairs to Shego’s car.

Cali let out a skeptical mew that was ignored. She was delivered to the Possible household with a few items to keep her busy and her humans left her for the weekend. She watched them drive away from the front window, eyes wide and she appeared as if she was going to burst into tears.

“Don’t worry, dear. They’ll be back soon enough and you’ll be going home. It’s not like they abandoned you and you know that,” Ann assured the cat while caressing her head.

Cali sighed. She would believe it when she saw it. After all, she could not seem to hold onto alphas or humans for long. She wanted to hold onto those three, forever if she could. So, now, she had a weekend to see if they would come back. _Hmm… what was a weekend anyway?_

-*-(New day)-*-

Shego, Kim, and Bonnie all laid curled up together in their hotel room, which was designed to look like a rustic cottage, complete with a bedspread that looked like a bearskin blanket _. Leave it to Kim to have woodland fantasies_ , Bonnie and Shego thought. Still, it was a nice to cuddle up with each other and pretend that everything was all right in their world, if only for a couple of days. Well, no, it really was all right in their world, practically perfect even.

Despite the need to extravagant, they had a rather normal anniversary. They went to dinner and dancing. They got to walk along the beach and they were able to see fireworks by sheer accident thanks to someone was throwing one hell of a party farther down the beach. They retired for the night to have one long and almost continuous round of lovemaking. They fell asleep to the sounds of adoring “I love yous” and other sweet, whispered words. They even forgot to exchange gifts until the following morning.

“Baby, how the hell could you afford this?” Bonnie inquired while looking down at her new shoes, handbag, and jacket. The best thing, though, was the inscribed folio, which she would use the moment she got back to work.

“What? Why do you both expect me to always be broke?” Kim countered because Shego asked her that very same question not even five seconds ago after she opened her gift.

“Because you’re the broke one out of us,” Shego teased while throwing one arm around Kim while the other arm supported her brand new painting. Landscape artwork was not usually a favorite of hers, but the artist who did the particularly piece she had was an absolute favorite.

“Thank you,” Kim deadpanned while trying to keep her head up thanks to the earrings that Shego brought her. Shego had brought Kim a pair of emerald stud earrings while Bonnie got the matching necklace. The younger pair suspected that she was claiming them because of the color.

“Just so you know, I would’ve been happy with just the photo,” Shego said. Beyond her painting, Kim had also given her a framed picture that she had taken. It was of the beach outside her family’s beach house. Kim managed to capture a wonderful setting sun on the teal water with their footprints in the sand.

Kim smiled. “I wanted to get you something special, but also something I knew you’d like.”

“Baby, those things don’t have to be mutually exclusive. I’d have been happy with just the folio,” Bonnie said.

Shego scoffed. “Then, I can back the necklace?”

Bonnie snorted. “The hell you can!” She then grinned and threw herself on her girlfriends. “Thank you both!”

The hug turned into kisses, which turned into another session of lovemaking, which none of them complained about. They were happy to have made it through a full year together and in love. They hoped for many more years because they could not see themselves without each other, not in the near or distant future.

“I love both of you,” they all said dozens of times into the evening. They knew that would never change.

They ended up falling asleep by a roaring fire, snuggled together with each other and their gifts. Despite the good time that they had, they were eager to return home and pick up Cali, who practically tackling them as they entered the Possible home. If Cali had been in her humanoid form, she would have easily taken out all three of them. Shego caught the feline with ease when she launched herself at them.

“Thanks for taking care of her, Mom,” Kim said with a relaxed smile.

“It was my pleasure. I got a chance to see that she is just a cat, complete with chasing birds and crawling into spaces that she can’t figure out how to get out of,” Ann remarked with a warm smile as she reached out and rubbed Cali’s head. The cat actually looked contented enough for her humans to know she had enjoyed herself with the Possibles.

“Dad didn’t have a problem with her, did he?” Kim asked. She did not know much about Cali’s interaction with male humans aside from her brush with Dementor and Kim hoped Cali did not think that all men were like that.

“Please, your father was trying to hide her when he heard you pull up. He wants to keep her. Of course, he doesn’t know she’s one special kitten,” Ann commented, laughing a little as she spoke.

“Really? So, Cali must like him a lot then,” the hero mused aloud.

“She adored him. Spent most of her time with him after we got her to stop hiding. It might have had something to do with the fact that he was giving her milk every five seconds, but he was happy to have her around. So, obviously, if you ever need a cat-sitter again, you know where to look,” Ann informed the trio.

“Thanks,” all three women said before going home to prepare for the workweek ahead of them.

They were all happy to be home, including Cali. Maybe it was just the thought of being home that did it, they all considered. They had somewhere that they belonged on their own. They had a refugee, a haven, and not just physically, but in everyway imaginable. They had everything as long as they had each other, they realized. They were all smiling for the rest of the day and they could not explain it, but they did not need to. They all just knew why the others were smiling.

The smiles lasted through the night, but then the real world approached after that. Cali had to deal with being left alone and Bonnie had to go deal with the decreasing foolishness at her job while Shego had to deal with Kim and Yori.

“So… about that tournament,” Kim said with Yori standing beside her, nodding eagerly. Shego groaned.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: serious trouble in paradise.


	21. Wednesday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters; Disney does.

21: Wednesday

Shego stared at the house phone as if she was trying to will it to do something. It was not ringing, just sitting there, much like Shego herself was. She continued to stare at the object while silence blanketed the apartment. She was the only one there. It was just her and the phone. 

She leaned forward from her space on the sofa. It looked like she was going to reach for the phone, but she only leaned on her knees. She rested her elbows on her knees and rested her chin on her hands, eyeing the phone like she expected it to do something. The phone seemed to disappoint her by just… sitting there. _Damn inanimate, unintelligent, non-psychic objects_.

Shego knew she did not have a lot of time to sit there and contemplate the secrets of the universe, much as she would have liked to. She had to go downstairs in less than an hour, as she did have classes to teach, after all. She hoped Kim and Yori got in a good workout without her since she was planning on taking it to them twice as hard as usual during their lunch break.

She could have sparred with the pair that morning if she could just use the telephone like she was supposed to. It was just a mentally difficult call to make. She had promised, though. She had made a promise to her two loves and she needed to make the call.

“Fuck it,” she grumbled as she snatched up the phone.

It really did not take that much physical effort to make the call that she needed to. All she had to do was push a button. But, that simple task took much more willpower than anything else she would probably do that month, in her opinion anyway. She did not take into account that the day was quite young.

Shego hit the one button quickly, as if she was trying to make sure that she did not chicken out. She put the phone to her ear, waiting for a familiar voice… one she repeated in her mind, she did not want to hear.

“Hello, is this my cranky child or one of her adorable mates?” Isabel asked as she answered the phone.

“Mommy,” Shego grunted. She took a deep breath to keep herself from blowing up on her mother.

“Ah, my cranky child. It’s rare that you call, so you must need or want something,” Isabel commented. It was clear from her voice she had a teasing smile on her face.

A deep frown marred Shego’s features. “To hell with you, Mommy.”

“You’re upset over the truth? Of course you are.”

“Mommy,” Shego growled.

“To what do I owe the pleasure? Maybe you would like to fill me on how you spent your anniversary that you didn’t bother to tell your goddamn mother about,” Isabel stated in a huff. She was genuinely pissed Shego had said nothing to her about the trio’s anniversary a few days ago, even though she expected her daughter to keep such a thing quiet. That was how Shego was, after all. Still, she was quite pissed, as she wanted to be a part of her children’s lives, after all.

“What the fuck? How did you know about it?” Shego demanded with a scowl. _How the hell does she get this information? Does she have me bugged or something?_ She would not put it passed her mother.

“Doesn’t matter how the hell I know about it. I know about it and I also know that you didn’t bother to tell me. What the hell is that about?” Isabel countered.

“The fuck? I don’t need to tell you about every little detail of my fucking life. I’m a grown ass woman. Besides, you would’ve just sent a bullshit gift anyway. Kimmie and Bonnie don’t need you trying to spoil them with big, expensive gifts,” Shego stated.

“I can spoil whoever the fuck I feel like,” Isabel said. She had her answer, though. Shego had not said anything because she did not want anyone showering her lovers with expensive gifts. That was Shego’s job. Isabel could respect that.

“Whatever. Look, I didn’t call to talk about this shit. We need to leave that reporter bitch, Tina Mallory, alone now,” Shego informed her mother in a cold, tense tone. The scowl on her face was so pronounced it felt like it was chiseled onto her features.

“What the fuck? Why?” Isabel demanded in a hard tone of her own. She wanted to make sure that bitch knew to never fuck with her daughter or her daughter’s lovers ever again!

“She came by not too long ago. She… well… she apologized. And, goddamn it, Bonnie and Kimmie accepted the apology,” Shego explained through gritted teeth. Her free hand was making a tight fist.

Isabel was silent for a long moment. “Did you accept it?”

“I don’t know. I think so. I mean, I could tell she meant it. I mean, she was fucked up, Mommy. We made that woman a shell of a human being. I just…” Sighing, Shego shook her head. She did not know how to explain it.

“Firefly, you’re not a monster. I understand if you have conflicted feelings about what happened. This woman hurt you and your loved ones, but you hurt her rather badly in return,” she said, sounding reassuring and understanding. She knew the feeling rather well.

“Do you have conflicting feelings about it?” Shego asked in a quiet voice. She cradled the phone a little closer, as if to make sure she did not miss the answer.

“Not really, but then again, I’m not in a relationship with two law-abiding females and one of them who could be categorized as a goodie-goodie. I also didn’t see what she looked like. You did. I might feel a little sorry for her if I had to see her, see what we created… but, out of sight, out of mind.” Isabel shrugged.

Shego nodded, hearing her mother’s shrug clearly through the phone. “I guess that makes sense. Well, either way, we can call off the dogs now.”

“All right. I guess I’ll have to find something else to occupy my time. Maybe I’ll go hunt down your father and fuck him silly,” Isabel mused aloud.

Shego scoffed. “He already is silly and where the fuck did he go already? I thought he was home.” Her voice was normal, glancing right over her mother’s comment and moving onto the next topic.

“He was. He woke up yesterday, walked out after ranting about wanting to surf, and hasn’t been back since. I called his cell phone, but apparently the number I have dialed cannot be reached.”

“He probably broke the damn thing again,” Shego grumbled. She had never met someone who went through phones like her father did, not even Doctor Drakken. “So, did you hang up and try again?”

“Yes, because I’m always in the mood to waste my time,” Isabel replied in a deadpan tone. “I figured he broke the damn thing. He’ll call eventually if he is gone. Maybe he went surfing and gotten eaten by a shark.”

“Please, he’s lived with you for over thirty years. I’m pretty sure he can outlast a few sharks.”

Isabel chuckled a bit. “Is this the end of our business, firefly?”

“Actually, I wanted to know if when we were younger we ever fought in any tournaments. I can’t really remember,” Shego said, scratching the top of her head in thought. There were plenty of fights when she was younger, some even organized, but she was not sure they counted as tournaments.

“Of course you did. We didn’t do any real official tournaments, but you fought in plenty. Remember when we stayed with your great aunt in the Himalayas? There was a tournament at the end of every month, but we never called it a tournament. Hell, we never called _anything_ a tournament. And I know you remember all of those underground fights your aunt used to sneak you off to. So, yes, you and your brothers were in more tournaments than most can imagine. Why do you want to know?” Isabel inquired.

“No reason. I was just trying to remember, that’s all,” Shego answered. That made sense and explained why she could never remember any tournaments.

“Uh-huh. Is that the end of our business then?”

“Yeah, that’s it. Why the fuck are you trying to kick me off the phone?” Usually, Isabel would eat up a chance to talk to Shego.

“I have a life, too, firefly,” Isabel said with a light laugh.

“Oh, please. We both know you don’t. Now, get your lazy ass out the house and go find my Daddy. Lord knows what kind of trouble he can get into on his own,” Shego remarked. She never said anything, but she disliked it when Kane left and did not tell her mother. What if something happened to him? She knew it was a long shot, but he was her daddy and she worried about the little guy.

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Isabel replied. She had the same fears as her daughter, though. “Besides, he’ll call if he’s really gone far,” she added to ease Shego’s nerves. And she would find him if he did not, if only to know where he was.

“Whatever,” Shego grumbled and disconnected the call without anything further.

Shego sighed as she thought about her father and his habit of waking up one morning with the urge to leave the city, or even the country. She realized she had fallen for someone with a similar habit: Kim. Not only did Kim have the same habit, but she rarely called once she was gone, just like Kane. At least with her father, it was a recent development since his children were all grown and out of his way. With Kim, it was an old habit that was hard to break, and she was only vaguely aware of the stress it caused her girlfriends.

“Making her more aware than my dad,” Shego muttered, but it was still disconcerting.

Shego shook those thoughts away, reminding herself that both her father and her redheaded girlfriend were more than capable of handling themselves. It would just be nice to know where they were every now and then, if only for a little peace of mind, but she digressed.

“I have to get my ass down to work before my students all fall asleep,” Shego said to herself. One of the problems with having students so similar to herself was how quickly they lost interest due to lack of patience.

She charged out of the apartment and went down the stairs instead of using the elevator. She got down there just in time to see Kim and Yori finishing up their sparring. They turned to their pale colleague as she stepped onto the mat.

“Hey, love. You okay?” Kim asked as she wiped her forehead with back of her hand. She had a plain, pink tank top. None of them wore a traditional gi like in most martial arts schools. Since they were far from traditional, they did _all_ things differently.

“I’m fine. I just missed everything, huh?” Shego inquired.

“Yeah. We need to get ready for class now,” Kim answered.

“Damn.” Shego sucked her teeth and then she turned her attention to Yori. “Hey, ninja-prude.”

Yori growled. “I have asked you not to call me that,” she said through gritted teeth. Her eyes flashed with fury.

“And I decided not to honor that request, doy,” Shego stated plainly.

The kunoichi continued to frown and stormed off to her classroom. Shego chuckled, feeling good about herself for getting a rise out of Yori. She was pretty sure it was going to be a good day just because of that.

“Shego,” Kim sighed.

“What? It’s good for her and gets her to be included,” Shego replied, totally justifying her bad behavior. They had both agreed to that.

Kim sighed again and Shego smirked, beckoning her over with crooked finger. Kim walked over to Shego and gave her a peck on the cheek before going upstairs to get ready for her own classes. Shego went through a quick, ten-minute warm-up before her usual first two students showed up. The couple, who were talking about the morning news as always, greeted their teacher with a wave and then went through their own warm-ups.

The day went on normally. Kim and Shego went to lunch with Bonnie. Yori had lunch with Ron. The three teachers came back together with almost a half-hour of their own time left. They had a nice, long two-hour lunch break. Yori and Kim glanced at each other and then locked their gazes onto Shego.

“Why are you two looking at me like that?” Shego asked, as if she did not know. She knew exactly what was coming and she had a big surprise for them.

“So… Shego… about that tournament,” Kim started, tapping her finger against her chin in a thoughtful manner.

“What about it?” Shego inquired, looking down at her fingernails.

“We wish to have one, you know that. We are prepared to spend the rest of this time convincing you that we should have,” Yori stated calmly.

“Well, ninja-prude, this could take a while,” Shego replied smugly. “Maybe we should pull up a chair or two.”

“Shego, I have asked you—” Yori began, but she was cut off.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Shego waved the whole thing off. “I know what you asked me. I’m not going to stop unless I get another, better nickname and even then I might just keep going. If you want, I could start calling you ‘pokemon’ or something.” She could not help the smirk that crept onto her face.

Onyx eyes went wide and Yori gasped. “You wouldn’t!” She would not stand for such disrespect. Should Shego start calling her that, then there would be a serious fight in the school that had nothing to do with a tournament and she would not hold back.

“Nah, I could come up with something better than that.” Shego rubbed her chin in thought. “I’m sure there are more embarrassing things that have come out of Japan than you and pokemon. Maybe I’ll get even worse and just call you ‘Great Wall.’“

“I am not Chinese!” Yori huffed, stomping her foot and glaring daggers at Shego. She knew that Shego was being so ridiculous and annoying to get a rise out of her, but that did not stop the initial anger. She had to deal with idiots assuming she was Chinese more often than she liked, after all. It was not something she wanted to hear from an intelligent woman like Shego who was very aware of her ethnic background.

Shego smirked even more, feeling very good about herself from what her two companions could tell. Kim rolled her eyes, but she did not step in. She still thought it was good for Yori to show some emotion when in their company. She just wished Shego could bring out more positive emotions in people.

“Really? You look Chinese,” Shego said, trying to dig in deeper.

Yori took a calming breath when she saw that smartass smirk on Shego’s face. She was just feeding into the taunting by getting upset, but there was just something about Shego that got under everyone’s skin. She glared harder at the pale woman, but let the teasing go.

“Anyway, we are still looking forward to having a tournament, Shego,” Yori stated. She made sure to leave off the “san.” It felt like she was getting Shego back for all of her horrible words.

“I’m sure you two pests are,” Shego replied in a dismissive tone, going so far as to brush them off with a motion of her hand.

“Come on, Shego! Do I have to do _the_ pout again?” Kim inquired. She did not give her girlfriend a chance to respond since she stood a good distance from her love. Her lip started quivering, as her eyes got wide and watery.

“Damn it, Kimmie! Put that thing away!” Shego ordered, pointing a threatening finger at her girlfriend. She turned away, not wanting to see the expression.

“But, we wanna have a tournament!” the redhead whined and stomped her foot like a child throwing a tantrum. She was not sure where that came from, but it seemed as good as any other tactic they had used. After all, nothing else had worked so far.

“Fine, you can have a tournament,” Shego answered as if it was nothing. She went so far as to shrug and brush it all off.

“C’mon!” Kim and Yori yelled simultaneously, obviously prepared to continue, just as Yori had threatened.

They then blinked hard as what Shego had said reached their brains. They looked at her suspiciously, wondering if she was playing another one of her cruel jokes on them. Her face did not give anything away for once.

“What did you just say?” Kim inquired, wanting to make sure that they heard right. After all, they could both be going insane from Shego’s stubbornness.

“I said you can have a tournament,” Shego answered with another shrug. She had the nerve to sound bored about it, even yawning like it was no big deal.

“Are you serious?” Kim asked to be sure. She took a step closer to her lover, like that would help her figure out if Shego was just messing with them.

“What did I just say?” Shego countered, blowing out a long sigh, like she was exhausted with them.

“You’re not going to take it back, are you? I mean, you’re not going to wake up tomorrow and suddenly not want it again, are you?” Kim asked while Yori eyed Shego as if accusing the older woman of that crime already.

“I doubt it. You two are going to do all of the work, though. I’m not touching this shit until it’s absolutely necessary,” Shego informed them, brushing her hands off.

“We have no problem with that,” the two other teachers replied with smiles on their faces. They then turned to each other and high-fived each other.

Shego could not help rolling her eyes, even though she had a small, amused smile on her face. _They’re actually kind of adorable together_. She supposed that was good for Yori, too. Kim was certain being a little goofy was good for Yori.

“This is wonderful. I will finally get a chance to show Ron-kun what my students are capable of and what I have been able to teach them in such a short amount of time. Thank you for this opportunity, Shego-san!” Yori went so far as to bow to Shego.

Shego smirked in satisfaction and Kim groaned. There was going to be no living with Shego now, Kim thought. Yori quickly rose as she realized what she had done and how formal she was being, not to mention whom she was being formal with. This was the woman that now commonly referred to her as “ninja-prude.”

“You two understand that you’re totally responsible for this. I’m not touching it,” Shego pointed out. While she did not mind the tournament, she definitely did mind the work. She wanted to yawn and whine just thinking about it.

“We got that, Shego. We’ve got it totally under control. All you have to do is show up on the day of the tournament. Hell, we might not even need you to judge anything depending on how we set it all up,” Kim declared. She bounced on the balls of her feet, apparently hyped now.

Shego rolled her eyes. All they needed was a hyper Kim. She would let Yori deal with that.

“Oh, we should make it a weekend thing. There could be a day for individuals and then the second day for battles,” Yori suggested. She was smiling, almost grinning. There was something infectious about Kim’s attitude. Hell, even just the atmosphere of the ninja’s work place seemed to be changing her.

Shego sighed while Yori and Kim went off into their own little world, planning the tournament. She smiled, happy to not have to deal with any of that and she thought it was funny how enthused they were about everything. They were occupied with that until their students started coming in for afternoon classes. The pair was careful not to spill the beans to their students. They wanted to hold off on that until they got better ideas of what they wanted to do with the tournament.

-8-8-8-8-

Bonnie sat at her desk, glancing at the clock every few seconds. She was a bit late after getting caught up in a case. There were too many angles for her to go at with this particular case, and that was why it consumed her thoughts. She needed to decide on the best avenue and go with that. She had realized rather belatedly that she needed to devote some of her time to other cases. So, now she was stuck working late. She decided to call her lovers, knowing they worried about her just as much as she worried about them.

She reached for the phone and dialed the home number. It rang a few times and she could just picture Shego sitting on the couch, right next to the phone, and not bothering to see who was calling. Hell, Shego was probably letting the damn cat play with the phone, Bonnie thought.

“Hey, baby!” Kim finally answered the phone.

“Thank you, babe. Is that lazy, good-for-nothing Shego sitting right next to the phone?” Bonnie inquired curiously.

“No, no. Our other great love picked her ass up off of the couch to go beat up on her favorite pinball machine. Cali was batting it around, though. The noise still spooks her a little, I think.”

“Of course it does,” Bonnie said dryly. Cali picked up on some things and took them as normal while other things just went over her head and drove her crazy. But, she was cute, so it was all right.

“Is everything okay?” Kim asked.

“Yeah, everything’s fine. I’m just going to be working a little late tonight. I neglected a couple of cases and I don’t want to save them for tomorrow just in case the same thing happens. So, if you two want to have dinner without me, that’s fine,” Bonnie said.

Kim scoffed. “You know we wouldn’t do that. I mean, it’s not like you’re going to be there all night, right?”

“I shouldn’t be, but I don’t know how long I’ll be here.”

“Don’t be too long, love. Do you want us to come down there and keep you company?” Kim proposed.

“No, I actually want to get some work done,” Bonnie answered with a laugh. Her girls were way too distracting for her to want them around when she wanted to put her all into her cases. “But, I appreciate the sentiment.”

“Just checking. We’ll be up waiting for you. Do me a favor and just call back in an hour if you’re still at work, okay?”

“Yes, Mom,” Bonnie teased. “I am a grown woman, Kimmie. I’ll be fine.”

“Humor me, please. You know how it is.”

“I do, and if you know how it is, why the hell don’t you call more often?” Bonnie turned it all around on her love.

Kim coughed and then laughed nervously. “Guess you got me there. I’m sorry I don’t call more often. I get caught up in the moment and the moment sometimes lasts a really long time. I’ll try to be better,” she vowed, sounding like a child that was scolded. 

“You need to. You’re making us old before our time,” Bonnie pretended to huff, even though she was serious.

“I will try. Let me let you go so you can get your work done and we can see you soon. Love you,” Kim said.

“Love you too, baby,” Bonnie replied and then she hung up the phone.

Bonnie wiggled her toes, which were out of her shoes, as she began looking at one of the other cases on her desk. She had her shoes kicked off because that was just how she worked. She turned her music back on; classical was her music of choice for the day. She hummed along with a symphony as she went through the case, making notes along the way.

Bonnie was not sure how much time passed, but she heard her office door open. For a moment, she thought it might be her girlfriends, coming to check on her. She looked up from her work, wondering who was disturbing her at such a late hour if it was not her girlfriends. She could have sworn almost everyone had gone home for the night, but apparently she was wrong.

“Lyle, what do you want?” the brunette demanded as her vile coworker stood in her doorway. Her gaze turned hard when her eyes fell onto his form. It was like her eyes were trying to send him away already, damn what he wanted.

“I don’t know why you’re so hostile. I just want to be your friend,” Lyle commented, pouring on his “southern charm” rather thickly, in her opinion. He smiled at her, like the expression was supposed to set her at ease.

“I don’t want to breathe the same air as you, let alone be your friend. Now, get the hell out,” Bonnie commanded, pointing to the door, so he could not get lost on the way of exiting her office.

“Aw, come on, darlin’. Don’t be so mean,” Lyle remarked as he shut the door and stepped a little deeper into the office.

Bonnie frowned at the man’s boldness. He did not seem to notice, but if his smile was any indication, he knew he crossed the line. His blue eyes seemed to dare her to do something. The smirk begged her to do something. She responded. There was no way in hell she was going to let him push her around in her own office.

“The hell is wrong with you? Are you fucking slow or something? Get the hell out!” Bonnie commanded as she slipped her shoes on before getting up. It was force of habit to make sure that she did not greet a client or a senior partner in her pantyhose. 

“I don’t think so. I want to know what you got against me. I mean, you send your little attack dyke after me and try to almost get me fired. If you want my attention, you don’t have to go through all of that,” Lyle commented with a warm smile that did not match the expression in his eyes.

“You silly, conceited bastard. I don’t want your attention! I want you to go the fuck away!” Bonnie huffed, walking to him with determination in her step. She did not go too far as he stepped in front of her. Instinctively, Bonnie disliked this new predicament, being trapped between him and her desk.

“No, I know what you want. You want to try to fuck up my life. Well, you got another thing coming if you think I’m going to let you do that,” Lyle said with a growl of his own, his accent slipping a little. He frowned down at Bonnie, trying to tower of her, even though he was only a few inches taller than she was. Bonnie did not flinch.

“Why don’t you just leave me the fuck alone?” Bonnie demanded, glaring up at him with angry fire in her eyes. “Trust me, I don’t want to bother with you enough to fuck up your life.”

“You’re nobody. You’re a nothing. You should be happy that someone like me even took an interest in you,” Lyle stated in a sternness that let her know he was serious. He genuinely believed she should be flattered by his attention.

Bonnie was about to fire something right back at him, but he did not give her a chance to say anything. He grabbed her, taking her by surprise. She gasped as he turned her around and pinned her on her desk. Her heart rate shot up as her brain caught up with the position that she was in.

“You’re just a little bitch that needs to know her place,” Lyle growled in her ear as he pressed hard against her back, keeping her on the desk.

Bonnie struggled and wiggled, trying to get away. He jabbed his elbow into her spine and she cried out in pain. He grabbed her shoulder and slammed her harder into the desk. She grunted as her cheek hit the wood and she tried to push away. He took hold of her hand and twisted her wrist.

“Stop!” she screamed as pain shot up her arm.

“Hold still, you little bitch, while I show you where the fuck you belong,” he hissed, pressing up against her backside.

“No! No!” Bonnie cried, only to have him hit her in the thigh with his knee. It hurt, but not by much, not enough to keep her from struggling. 

“Fucking hold still,” he snarled and he slammed her head against the desk, enough for her to see stars for a few seconds.

Bonnie gasped again, head still swimming, as she heard his zipper open. She closed her eyes tightly, as if trying to will everything to go away. She could feel him rip her pants open, button flying to the floor and rolling underneath the desk. When she suddenly felt his hand on her bare ass, roughly groping her, she knew that closing her eyes was not going to help, and yet there was no way in hell that she was going to let the slimy bastard behind her have his way with her.

Bonnie reacted without thinking. She stepped on his foot, shoving her pointed high-heel into his foot. He hollered and backed up just enough for Bonnie to spin around. She wasted no time kicking him in the crotch with as much power as she could muster. He howled in pain and fell back as his hands were to his injured groin.

The panicked brunette rushed out of the room as if it was on fire. She ran out of the main hall of the firm, seeing it was completely empty. She set off down the stairs because she did not want to risk waiting for the elevator. Her heel broke off on the way down, but she did not stop, hobbling into the garage on the ground level that held her car. Her eyes were wide as she focused on her vehicle, one of the few still there. She hurried to her car with hot tears gathered in her eyes and she panted, trying to catch her breath. She drove off with her vision blurred by her tears. There were tire marks left on the ground.

“Oh god, oh god, oh god,” Bonnie chanted over and over as her lungs burned for more air. Her throat burned, her eyes burned, everything burned. She wanted to throw up, but all she did was keep driving and weeping.

Bonnie was not aware of anything on the road. She went through several red lights, but luckily there were no police around. She almost hit a kid crossing the street, but he was smart enough to jump out of the way. She was not sure when she got home and just parked the car because it was a habit. She was not even aware she had parked, but she knew to jump out of her car and run upstairs.

Once she made it to the safety of the apartment, Bonnie broke down. She fell to the floor, hugging herself and bawling her eyes out. The first on the scene was the cat because she was the closest. She tried rubbing herself into Bonnie, silently begging for attention, but she did not receive the wanted caress, which let her know that something was very wrong.

“Bonnie?” Kim called before she got a good look at the body slumped at the door. Her mouth practically hit the floor when she saw the lump that was her first girlfriend. “Bonnie, baby, what’s wrong?” she inquired with concern etched in her voice as she rushed to Bonnie’s side.

Bonnie only wailed louder as Kim embraced her. She turned to weep into Kim’s tank top, quickly dampening the cotton material. Kim held Bonnie tightly and whispered reassuring words to the attorney, hoping it would help. She gently ran her fingers through Bonnie’s hair and kissed her forehead.

Cali puttered around close, rubbing her head against Bonnie. It was nice that the cat was trying to help, but Kim feared Bonnie might just need to let this out. The thing that scared her was wondering what got Bonnie to this point.

“What the hell is all the noise out here?” Shego wondered as she wandered out of the game room. Her brow furrowed and she frowned when she noticed her girlfriends curled up on the floor and Bonnie crying like a newborn. 

Shego was down on the floor and embracing Bonnie within seconds. While Kim tried to comfort Bonnie, Shego started doing inventory, looking for signs of why their lover was distressed. For a moment, she thought Medea might have struck again and managed to wound Bonnie. When she did not spy any cuts or bruises, she dismissed that theory. And then her eyes caught sight of the open pants, the missing button, and the partially open fly.

“Kimmie,” Shego said in a voice lower than a whisper. She made sure to remain as normal as possible because she was not looking to fly off of the handle just yet. She wanted the full story, so she would know exactly whom she would have to kill and feed the person’s body to ants.

Kim looked over at Shego, who nodded downward, directing Kim’s attention to Bonnie’s disheveled clothing. At first, Kim was just upset with the fact that Bonnie’s typically neat appearance was in disarray, letting her know something bad happened. She thought that maybe Bonnie was attacked, but nothing too serious, but then she saw what Shego saw. Her eyes flared with fury and she snarled before she turned her attention back to Shego. 

“You don’t think…” Kim muttered and then she turned her attention back to the crying woman in her arms. “Bonnie, baby, we need you to tell us what happened,” she requested in a gentle tone, hiding how tense she truly was. 

Bonnie began to babble incoherently because she was unable to stop her tears from falling. Her words fell over each other and she hid deeper into Kim, muffling her words even more. Eventually, Kim and Shego silenced her and just held her. Cali joined in, curling up at Bonnie’s knees. For a long while, Bonnie just cried and they let her.

Once the weeping was done, silence reigned over the house. Bonnie trembled against Kim while holding on for dear life. Kim rubbed her back and Shego caressed her shoulder. It did not seem to have any effect on her, though. It was almost like she did not know they were there, despite the fact that she clung to Kim.

Shego and Kim kept their gazes fixed on Bonnie’s ripped pants. They tried not to think too much on the destroyed article of clothing, but it was just staring them dead in the face as far as they were concerned. It screamed at them to do something about it and they wanted nothing more than to take it up on that offer, but they knew they had to remain calm for Bonnie’s sake.

Bonnie slowly started to come to her senses. She realized she was being hugged. She knew she should feel safe and loved thanks to the powerful arms around her, but she did not. She felt an incredible emptiness that ate at the pit of stomach right through to her soul. She trembled and those same arms held her tighter, making the emptiness spread.

“Don’t touch me,” Bonnie pled as she pushed away from her lovers. Her back the door and she felt trapped in their arms. Her chest heaved as she tried to breathe, but found it impossible.

Kim and Shego were momentarily stunned by the words. Their faces fell, victims of painful words, but they could see their lover was panicking again. They released Bonnie, allowing the attorney to retreat. Bonnie fled into the dining area, putting a chair between her and everyone else. The martial artists looked at each other, gazes trying to heal jagged wounds caused by Bonnie’s break. They then shook it off, thinking about the ordeal Bonnie must have just gone through to have such a reaction.

“Please, just don’t touch me,” the lawyer begged in a quiet voice. She wanted the empty feeling to go away before it devoured her entire being. She felt sick knowing it was caused by her lovers’ touches.

“We won’t touch you, baby,” Kim promised in a tender tone. She and Shego put their hands up as if they were under arrest.

Bonnie nodded and wrapped her arms around herself. She felt like she needed to keep herself from flying apart, but also she needed to protect herself from _them_. If they touched her again, she might lose herself completely to that void inside of her.

“But, we do need you to tell us what happened, Duchess,” Shego added in, making sure to use her gentlest voice. After all, she had to put the first ever name to her “kill list” and she needed to remain calm in order to get that information. After that, her behavior would put a wild lion to shame. 

Kim and Shego felt like it took an eternity for Bonnie to respond, but it was only a few seconds in actuality. In their eternity, though, they felt as if they had died a million times, each time in the most gruesome of manners, only to be resurrected to die again in a way much worse than the last. The clock ticked down to which one of them was going to throw up first as each passing second felt like it stabbed them in the stomach.

“Nothing happened. I mean, it was something, but nothing,” Bonnie rambled, shaking her head a little, as if trying to clear her head.

A vein bulged in Shego’s neck as her body grew tenser by the second. She was obviously about to lose it. Kim placed a soothing hand on Shego’s shoulder, wanting to keep her calm until they had the full story. Shego took a few breaths and regained her composure. She gave Kim a nod just to let the hero know she was okay… relatively speaking anyway.

“He just came at me. Just came at me. I couldn’t believe it. It was crazy! I mean, one second, he’s ranting about stupid shit and won’t get out of my office, next thing I know he’s got me bent over the desk!” Bonnie screamed and her body shook. She held herself tighter, needing to make sure she did not fly apart. Her teeth chattered and she touched the space on her cheek where it hit the desk. This drew attention to a bruise forming on her face. 

Shego snarled and seemed to be bathed in a full-body green glow. Kim had to grab her to hold her and make sure that she stayed still. The glow did not disappear, but Kim seemed to be the only one that noticed it. Thankfully, Shego did not advance more than that and Kim held her tightly.

“Its okay, baby,” Kim said and she was speaking to both of her girlfriends… neither of whom seemed to be listening to her.

“He was going to… he was going to… Oh, god!” A gut-wrenching sob escaped Bonnie’s throat. It was loud enough to sent Cali running for cover under the nearest chair. The cat decided to watch everything from a distance after that. “His hands! His hands!” She wailed. “He was…”

“It’s okay, baby. He didn’t… right?” Kim asked. She hoped to hell he did not or this mysterious “he” was going to be in for a Kim Possible that not even Shego had seen before.

Bonnie shook her head and sniffled. “No, he didn’t. I mean, he was going to.” She paused and panted for a moment. “He even opened his pants.” Her body shook as she remembered and she held herself tighter. This actually helped her feel better.

“He opened his pants…” Kim growled. In a second, she might not be able to hold Shego back because she would be out the door, hunting for this bastard.

Bonnie took a breath. “I got so scared and I panicked. I don’t know how I got away or even how I got here. I just know one second I felt him behind me, pressing me, and then he was gone, so I ran,” she explained, her eyes darting around the floor, searching for answers. She could not remember anything beyond the feel of his body against her at the moment. After he put his hands on her ass, everything was blank.

Shego relaxed at those words, but not by much. The dull green glow around her remained, but her breathing slowed and the snarl tugging at her lip like some crazed animal was gone. Kim released Shego, so that they both could turn their full attention to Bonnie. They made a move as if they were going to go closer to her, having forgotten her plea for them not to touch her. 

“No!” Bonnie shouted as she jumped to her feet to create more distance between herself and her lovers. She moved quickly for a person wearing a broken shoe.

Kim and Shego flinched from the declaration. They stared at Bonnie, hating the look of conviction in her eyes. She did not want them to touch her. She did not want them near her and they could see that quite plainly. There was a hint of something else in those beautiful, but raging, turquoise orbs, and it cut into Kim and Shego like a rusty steak knife.

“This is all because of you two! My life was normal before I got involved with you! Now, thanks to you two I’m a worldwide joke! The whole goddamn world knows I’m a fucking dyke! I got fired from a firm I really liked to end up in this fuck-hole where everybody fucking hates me and thinks I got the job because I’m fucking one of the biggest clients! And to make shit worse, I almost got raped because you want to have a fucking pissing contest with Lyle! Fuck this! I’m sick of this shit!” Bonnie screamed and then stunned her girlfriends by storming out.

Kim and Shego were so shocked by the outburst that they did not react, for perhaps the first time in their lives. They just stood there, staring at the space Bonnie used to be in. When the front door slammed, they did not even blink. Cali, on the other hand, fled into one of the back rooms. It was like the world stood still.

“Did she… did she really just blame us?” Shego asked in disbelief. She did not even know how to take that since it was so out-of-the-blue and completely fucking outrageous. Her mind was barely wrap itself around that. 

Shego actually swayed, like she was about to fall over. Kim caught her with an arm around her waist. Kim was not sure how long she would be able to hold Shego, though. Her own legs were weak, but that did not last long.

“She wasn’t thinking clearly. She just went through a rough ordeal,” Kim replied in a calm tone, feeling her body steeling itself. There was a crisis. She needed to handle it and Bonnie needed time to get herself together. 

Kim was much more capable of processing what just happened, dealing with people and tragedy a little more often than Shego did nowadays anyway. This was a little more personal than either of them was used to and Shego was definitely taking it harder than she would have if only she was on the outside looking in. So, Kim let the information settle while keeping Shego on her feet.

“Should we just let her leave like that?” Shego inquired, eyes glued to the door.

“I think she needs some time to herself to get herself together. We both know Bonnie’s stronger than we usually act. She was able to get herself out of that mess earlier without being raped, so I think she’ll be able to work through the first few steps of this on her own. And, if not, I know where she’s going to go for help,” Kim answered. 

An ebony eyebrow arched. “Where?”

“She’ll more than likely end up with my parents. I mean, if you think about it, where else can she go?” Kim pointed out. 

Shego nodded and she felt touched by that comment. It oddly made her feel better. Kim’s parents would protect and help Bonnie. This reminded her just how few people Bonnie had in this world to care for her, so she was confident that Bonnie would return to them. It also gave her a new mission to focus on rather than worry about Bonnie. She needed to crush and slaughter Lyle.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Kim said when she noticed a devilish smile curl onto Shego’s painted black lips. 

“Then you better be with me,” Shego stated. She would go this alone if necessary. No one would ever hurt her lover in such a way with her around. No one.

“I never thought I would be, but I am. I can’t just stand by while someone tries to rape our girlfriend,” Kim stated and she scowled.

Shego could see a haunting look in Kim’s olive eyes. It was dark, brooding. Shego’s smile only darkened, knowing Kim could only add to what she had in mind.

-8-8-8-8-

Bonnie got into her car, slamming the door so hard that the window slide off of the track and into the door. She did not notice and just started to drive. Hot, angry tears rolled down her cheeks as she cursed her lovers in her mind and tried her best to hate them in her heart. _Fuck them, fuck them, fuck them_. She then started punching her steering wheel as she realized she was driving to nowhere.

“I don’t even have any place to go! My whole damn family hates me!” Of course, the feeling was mutual, but she did not recall that at the moment. She just knew her whole family hated her and she blamed that on Kim. “She cost me all of them! I’ll never be one of them because of her! Fuck her.”

Bonnie did not even think about her brother Johnnie, still seeing him as “family” in her fury clouded mind. She tried to think of any friends, but she had alienated many of them thanks to her personality or just the fact that a lot of people she used to know were surprisingly homophobic. Monique was out of town, back to work and traveling the country. Tara, one of the few people she stayed in contact with after high school, lived in another city now. She did not have anyone to run to, no shoulder to cry on.

“How pathetic is that!” Bonnie bawled. She did not even have any friends. Continuing on with her strange state of mind, she blamed Kim for her lack of friends. Being in a relationship with Kim had taken any friends she had because they did not want to be around a “queer.”

A torrent of fiery tears blazed down tanned cheeks and Bonnie just continued to drive. Her mind went on automatic again and she just drove. Her consciousness only returned when she found herself standing on a familiar door. She must have already knocked, she figured, because she heard someone shout, “Coming!” Her brow furrowed in confusion, wondering what she was doing. 

“Hello, Bonnie,” Ann Possible said as she pulled the door open. She was smiling until she took in Bonnie’s wild appearance. “Sweetie, what happened?” the neurosurgeon inquired with concern in her voice.

“I left Kim and Shego!” Bonnie wailed and she threw herself onto the older woman. 

Ann did not say anything and returned the embrace with her own reassuring hug. She quietly ushered Bonnie into the house and out of the dark. She gently shut the door behind them while keeping her arms around Bonnie in a rather motherly manner. She led Bonnie to the sofa and let the lawyer cry into her shoulder. She rocked Bonnie a little like one would do a child and then held her when Bonnie quieted down.

“Would you like anything? I could have James put on some tea or cocoa,” Ann offered.

Her husband lingered in the doorway of the kitchen, looking in on the scene with his usual – when it came to Kim and Bonnie anyway – confused expression. He clearly wanted to help, but had no idea where to start. He was going to stay close, just in case he could be of some assistance in someway.

Ann waved him off, if only to help put him at ease. He only frowned and held onto the doorway. He wanted to hold Bonnie and help put her back together, but he was not sure if he should join in just yet. She might feel overwhelmed. He knew she came from a household where affection was rare, so he would Ann handle this for now. 

Bonnie only shook her head, declining Ann’s offer. She slowly realized what she was doing, crying on the shoulder of Kim’s mother after breaking up with Kim. As horrible as it sounded, even in her own mind, Bonnie did not care. Ann was comfortable and comforting. She wanted that and she was taking that now.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Ann asked in a low tone, rubbing Bonnie’s shoulder.

“I don’t know,” Bonnie mumbled, sniffling and wiping her nose with the back of her hand. She was not sure what she wanted to do aside from just feel loved by someone and safe.

 _Really? You want to feel loved and safe?_ A voice in her mind pointed out that she would have had that if she stayed with Kim and Shego, but she knew that was not true. The only thing her girlfriends held was that horrible empty feeling that she did not wish to experience.

“It’s all right. You don’t have to talk about it right now. If you want, we can get you out of those clothes and you can take a hot, relaxing shower. You should still have clothes up in Kimmie’s room, right?” Ann asked softly.

Bonnie nodded; that did sound like a good idea. Ann was going to let Bonnie go, but she felt the attorney was not ready to let go. She waited until Bonnie was ready to end the embrace that they were locked in. When Bonnie started to pull away, Ann finally released her.

Bonnie walked off on her own, knowing the house rather well, of course. Ann watched her walk off, noting her hobble. Bonnie only had one shoe on. Ann’s forehead wrinkled from concern. James came out of the kitchen when the coast was clear.

“What’s going on?” James asked. 

“I think something happened with the girls. Bonnie said she left Kimmie and Shego,” Ann answered.

“Did she say why she looked like that?” James inquired, glancing in the direction Bonnie left. 

Ann shook her head. “She didn’t want to talk about it.”

“You don’t think Kim or Shego had something to do with it, do you?”

“I’m not sure what to think. She said she left them, but I don’t think her disheveled appearance had anything to do with that. I’m sure she’ll tell us what happened when she’s ready,” Ann said. Or so she hoped, anyway.

“What should we do?” he asked in a low tone, rubbing his chin. He hated the feeling of not knowing. He was smart man from birth and well-educated beyond that. He had always been able to figure things out, except these girl things that happened with Kim and now Kim’s relationship.

“I don’t think we have to do much, except for be there for Bonnie. She seems to be really distressed over something. We could always call Kim and ask if there’s anything we need to do,” Ann suggested.

“Should we do that?” James asked, looking worried as well as confused now. Now, he might not be in favor of same-sex relationships, but he was used to Kim being with Bonnie, and maybe getting used to Shego to a certain degree. He did not want to see that come to an end, knowing how hurt Kim would be.

“Let’s take a little time. We don’t want to butt into their relationship if they can handle it on their own. I mean, would you have wanted my parents butting in every time we had a little spat when we first got together?” Ann countered, not that this was something they really had to worry about.

James shook his head and frowned. He was satisfied with that and went about his business as best he could. He looked up the stairs as he marched back into the kitchen, needing some tea for himself.

Ann sighed and glanced up at the stairs as well. She thought about how Bonnie had run to their house and took comfort in her. She then thought about a trial not too long ago, a trial where Bonnie defended Kim for assault charges brought against Kim by Connie Rockwaller. Bonnie had gone against her whole family in that trial.

“That was probably the end of invites to any family gatherings. She’s really lost everything. She didn’t have a mother or a sister she could run to for whatever’s going on,” Ann realized, speaking to the air. She knew how terrible that was. 

She removed herself from the sofa and went to find her husband. James was sitting at the kitchen table, reading some notes for work as his tea water boiled. Ann went and sat down next to him. He glanced at her as she wrapped an arm around his arm.

“You need something?” he asked.

“I was just thinking, I noticed you’re doing much better with Bonnie and everything. I’m happy you’re trying for Kim’s sake. I want to ask something else of you,” she replied. 

“You know you can ask me anything,” he reminded her.

“I just want you to keep up what you’re doing with Bonnie. She needs a family. She needs us,” the redhead stated. 

James nodded. “I know and understand that. I’m here for her, for Kim… Shego, you might want to get back to me on,” he remarked with a small smile.

“I’m not asking you to make the great leap here. I just want you to keep up what you’re doing with Bonnie,” Ann replied with a smile of her own. 

Shego could take care of herself, after all, and no one was fool enough to think that James’ lessening dislike of her was really affecting her. Bonnie was a different story, though. Bonnie needed people and they should be there for her, like she was there for their daughter.

“I have no problem with that. Bonnie is a very nice girl,” James answered. His response earned him a smile from his wife. 

“She is.”

James sighed. “And I see the good she’s done for Kimmie.”

She had to look at him. “Oh, really?” 

“Look, you know how I feel about same-sex relationships, but I also have eyes. Kimmie grew up when she got into a relationship with Bonnie. She’s happy and I’m happy for her.”

She gave him a deadpan look. “Really?” 

“I’m happy for her in the sense that she’s found a relationship with Bonnie that’s successful and works for her. I have no idea what she’s doing with Shego and I don’t like to think about it,” he said honestly.

She chuckled a little. “Well, that’s something. It’s good that you’re all right with being there for Bonnie.” 

“She’s a nice girl,” he repeated. This was one of the reasons why he could not understand why Kim had run off with Shego or why Bonnie accepted that. But, again, he tried not to think about it. “She’ll be all right, right?”

“We’ll be there for her.”

“Even if she left Kim?” he asked, even though he knew the answer to that. She just nodded. They would be there for Bonnie. “We’re her family,” he felt the need to say.

Ann grinned. “That we are.” She patted his arm. He was a good man.

-8-8-8-8-

Kim and Shego paced the apartment in two parallel lines. They were not sure what to do, but they both needed to move. They passed each other in front of the living room, where Cali hid underneath the sofa and watched them, hoping things would get back to normal soon. It seemed that no one had any answers.

“Goddamn it! We need to find that jackass and beat the living shit out of him right now!” Shego finally screamed from the opposite end of the apartment as she turned to face Kim. 

“That’s not going to solve anything,” Kim countered, even though she really felt like that was the best way to handle everything. She wanted to just go to wherever the hell he lived, tie him to the bed, and clobber him with a metal baseball bat until his whole body was bruised black and blue.

“The hell it’s not! That bastard tried to rape Bonnie! Rape, Kimmie! _Rape_!” Shego hollered.

“Stop saying that fucking word!” Kim hated the way it sounded and she hated the way it hit her in the gut when thinking about how it almost happened to Bonnie. _Doesn’t she know I want to go out and beat the shit out of the guy, too? But, it’s not the best course of action and I need to think_.

“I’ll keep saying, so you can move your ass and we can go take care of that fucking asshole the right way! Goddamn it!” Shego screamed, the end part directed at no one in particular. She ripped at her hair, actually pulling out several strands.

“Love, calm down. You getting so pissed that you’re ready to tear yourself apart isn’t helping. Now, we can’t do anything before we get Bonnie back. I mean, do you want to do something and then end up pissing her off? You know how she feels about us doing illegal crap,” Kim reminded Shego. Bonnie was already in enough of an emotional state. It would not do well for Bonnie or them if they were arrested again. 

Shego only grabbed for another fist full of hair, not knowing what else to do. Kim rushed over to Shego, forcing her hands away from her head. Kim wrapped Shego’s arms around her own waist, then she put her arms around Shego. It was not just an embrace, but a way to pin Shego’s limbs to her side if she decided to start moving.

“Take a breath, lover. Take a breath,” Kim whispered. 

Shego had to take several deep breaths. Kim could feel the change in Shego as she calmed down, even though she remained tense. Kim could understand the tension, but was shocked when she heard Shego crying.

“Damn it, Kimmie, why did she have to blame us?” Shego inquired, her voice cracking, as she hid her face in Kim’s lush red mane.

“She was just hurt, scared, and anxious, Shego. She wasn’t thinking when she was talking and she didn’t realize what she was saying. It wasn’t true,” Kim promised.

“But… I did antagonize Lyle. I practically crushed the man’s nuts and I went after him. I wanted to get him fired. I wanted him crushed and I know he did this,” Shego pointed out, shaking her head against Kim’s neck. 

Kim gave her a tight squeeze. “Hey, you didn’t make him pin Bonnie down on her desk and we don’t blame you for it. Bonnie was just upset. We’ll give her time and I’m telling you, she’ll be all right. She’s strong and she knows we love her. She knows this isn’t on us. So, you get all of those crazy thoughts out of your head. You didn’t make him try anything and it wasn’t your fault,” Kim insisted, rubbing the small of her girlfriend’s back to help ease away her pain.

“…are you sure?” Shego whispered. 

“I’m positive. Shego, I’ve known Bonnie for a long time and, sure, most of that time I had no clue what the hell was going on with her, but now I know her pretty well. She didn’t mean those things. She’s just trying to make sense of something traumatic that happened to her. She still loves us and it’s not your fault. He’s responsible for his own actions.”

Shego nodded in agreement with that. “I just hate to see her hurt.” 

“I feel the same way.”

“I want to make it better.” 

“Me, too.” Kim wanted to make it better for both Bonnie and Shego. Right now, she focused on Shego, though.

“I never want to hurt you.”

Kim kissed the side of her head. “I know. I don’t want to hurt you either and I don’t want to see you hurt. This wasn’t your fault. None of it was your fault.”

Shego nodded and held onto Kim. They stayed hugged up for a while, feeling a little better. They knew they would not feel better until Bonnie got back into their lives. They also needed to teach Lyle a hard lesson. Shego hoped Kim would still allow her darkness to come out and play, if only to make the lesson stick a little better. 

-8-8-8-8-

Bonnie finished with her hot shower and went up to Kim’s old bedroom to get some rest. She had clothing in the room, including pajamas that she was able to crawl into. After that, she flopped down into Kim’s bed and had a dreamless sleep. She was awakened by the smell of good food right next to her head.

“What time is it?” Bonnie groaned into the pillow.

“It’s actually morning. You slept through the night. I brought you some breakfast and a kind ear if you’re ready to talk,” Ann replied in a gentle tone. She was in a chair by Kim’s desk.

Bonnie slowly opened her eyes. She looked much better now than she did last night, Ann silently noted. Her eyes were still a little puffy and red from crying, but nothing compared to last night. She also did not carry that rumpled look that Ann was very aware Bonnie was not a fan of.

The lawyer was quiet as she sat up. Her attention was first drawn to the food, which was on a tray on the nightstand next to the bed. After all of the emotions and action from last night, she was starving. She moved the tray onto her lap and surveyed the meal. It was nothing really big, just two waffles, scrambled eggs, and two slices of turkey bacon with a glass of apple juice.

Bonnie stared at the scrambled eggs for a long time. They were light and fluffy; Kim made them that way. Shego always made the eggs a little brown and more like an omelet than scrambled. Both were good… tears began to slide down Bonnie’s face.

“Oh, sweetie, what’s wrong?” Ann inquired as she got up. She moved over to Bonnie and she put her arm around Bonnie’s shoulders. She had to sit down on the bed for the move to work. 

“I’m going to leave Kim and Shego!” Bonnie wailed. A powerful sob shook her small frame as it escaped her. The idea physically hurt, but it had to be done. This was too much. It was all too much.

“You are? Now, why would you do a thing like that?” Ann asked, holding Bonnie close against her.

“Because ever since I started dating them my life has gone to Hell! I’ve lost everything and the entire world has judged me. I lost my family and friends thanks to Kim. I lost my job and any respect thanks to Shego. Hell, because of Shego I was almost killed by a crazy witch and nearly sexually assaulted by a coworker!” Bonnie answered.

Ann felt a jolt go through her and she was stunned into silence for a moment. That was a lot to go through for one person, but it was also a lot to place on the shoulders of the two women who obviously loved her more than anyone else. She was not sure where to start, but then her mind picked up on “nearly sexually assaulted,” which was something that she had not heard about. 

“Are you all right, physically speaking?” the redhead inquired with held breath. She could only imagine what Kim and Shego were going through if they knew that information. God, she hoped the two impulsive women did not do anything and end up in jail facing serious charges.

“I’m fine. I was able to fight him off. It’s just, he wouldn’t have done it if Shego hadn’t pissed him off,” Bonnie argued. 

Ann pulled away just enough to look at Bonnie. “Surely you don’t believe that.” _I hope she didn’t say that to Shego or Shego is probably going out of her mind_. “You think he just came up with raping you as revenge against her? Is this the man that you’ve been having some trouble with at work?”

The lawyer looked surprised. “How do you know about that?”

“Kim has called a few times asking me for advice on how to help you. You know she worries about you and she wants you to be happy. They don’t want you to suffer through that stuff just for a job. They want you to be happy,” Ann pointed out. 

Bonnie nodded, as that sounded about right to her mind at the moment. “But, they mess everything up. They make everything horrible. How can I be happy like that?” Her life had been terrible since she got involved with them, staring from Kim onward.

“Do they make everything horrible? I remember the first time you and Kim came back here when you started dating. It was Thanksgiving break and you didn’t want to go to your family’s house. You just wanted to stay with Kim. You were grinning the whole time and you couldn’t stop touching her, which made her smile. It was the first time I ever saw you like that, but it wasn’t the last,” Ann recalled aloud, a smile plastered on her face.

Bonnie was quiet as she remembered back to Thanksgiving break so many years ago. It was the first time she and Kim had returned from college as a couple. They had gotten together months before that, but they always had a bunch of classes or work to take care of, so they never really could make it back to Middleton.

It had been a great Thanksgiving. Bonnie was able to see what a normal, loving family did on such a holiday. She was not surprised to see that there were no serious insults, verbal spats, or even fists fights in a Possible Thanksgiving. All of those elements and more could be found at the Rockwaller Thanksgivings she was used to. The best part about it was that Kim treated her like a girlfriend to the point where Kim did not even have to tell her family. Everyone just knew she was dating Bonnie from her behavior. It was so beautiful. She felt beautiful.

“I’m going to leave you to eat and let you mind settle down, okay?” Ann proposed. She suggested this because she could see that Bonnie was in deep thought. She knew that the lawyer needed to do some serious thinking.

Bonnie nodded absently, agreeing to the plan. Ann gave her one last squeeze to let her know that someone was there for her if necessary. Once the neurosurgeon left, Bonnie sighed. She did not know what to do. 

“Kim always made me so happy…” Bonnie admitted to the air.

As she started on her breakfast, Bonnie thought about her first time in the room as Kim’s friend. The joy she felt from being able to spend the night in this room, she could feel it just under her hurt. It was in this room that she professed her love to Kim, who was perplexed to say the least. It was also here that they shared their first kiss. Bonnie felt like she could have floated off into space that day. Kim just had that effect on her.

Bonnie smiled. “Still does…” She could feel the same joy Kim always gave her blossoming within.

She suspected Kim would always have that effect on her. Maybe that was how it was when a person fell in love at the tender age of six. As she thought about Kim, she felt like a weight was being lifted off her shoulders. Her mind drifted to the time her dream became a reality and Kim began dating her.

-*-(Flashback)-*-

“Spring break, thank you, Lord!” Ron cheered, pumping his fist in the air as he, Kim, and Bonnie pulled up to the condo they rented for their week of fun, sun, and absolutely no schoolwork. That last part was the best part as far as they were all concerned. They were all dressed for the occasion in shorts and tank tops. 

“Really, I feel like it took forever to get to this break,” Bonnie moaned as climbed out of the rented sports car. Kim decided that was the last time she would let Ron pick the rental. Bonnie was in agreement since she had been in the cramped back seat, riding with her knees in her chest for almost an hour.

“Considering you two are taking a million and two classes, I’m shocked you didn’t drop dead yet,” Ron remarked with a teasing grin. 

“It’s not that bad,” Kim replied, taking a moment to stretch as she got out of the car. She had been driving.

“Oh, please, what’re you triple-majoring in again?” Ron teased, folding his arms across his chest.

“It’s just a double-major so far!” Kim argued. She was majoring in anthropology and criminal justice. She had considered something else, but she was not too sure if she wanted to do photography just yet.

“Soon to be triple. You’re a workaholic,” he kept going, waving her off. He felt like he had some rather good ammunition on Kim for the moment, so he would milk it.

Kim just rolled her eyes while bending down to pop the trunk. The trio then went to retrieve their bags. Kim and Ron traveled with duffle bags and backpacks while Bonnie had a suitcase with wheels on it. They entered the condo and just dumped their bags right there on the floor, as if they have carried the burdensome items for miles rather than a couple of yards. 

“I am ready to just go to bed,” Bonnie commented, raising her arms in the air to stretch.

“That makes two of us. These papers are killing me. I think I took one 300 course too many this term,” Kim remarked with a laugh. 

“Workaholic,” Ron hummed and Rufus chimed in with a giggle from inside the pocket of Ron’s cargo shorts.

“Try changing majors and then we’ll see how you complain about the work load,” Bonnie said.

“You changed majors?” Ron asked. He knew she had been talking about it and Kim seemed to be trying to talk her into it, but he did not think it had progressed beyond that. She had even asked his opinion, to which he stated, “Do whatc’ha wanna.” It was pretty much his motto – next to “never be normal” anyway.

“I’m still thinking about it. I do love dancing, after all, but after I took that law class to fulfill a history requirement, I think I could get into law,” Bonnie answered.

“I really don’t see how you found ‘Constitutional Law’ interesting,” Ron said as he flopped down onto the sofa in the small living room that about ten feet from the front door. 

“Well, I don’t see how you found a cake decorating course interesting,” she countered.

“Touché, my friend, touché,” Ron said, shaking his index finger in her direction. 

“I really think that if you like law so much, you should change your major. Why did you take a dance major, anyway?” Kim asked before her brain could catch up to her mouth. Only after the words did she realize what she asked and she already knew the answer since she and Bonnie talked quite a bit.

Bonnie waved off the question since Kim knew the reason. She never said it out loud or really admitted it to herself, but she wanted to major in dance, join a troupe, and show her family just how good she was. Maybe then they would finally accept her and welcome her as one of them. It did not seem to be happening… and she had so loved that law class…

“Look, ladies, we didn’t come out here to talk about school. In fact, that’s the reason we didn’t go home this Spring break. From now on, no one shall mention the s-word or the m-word while we’re here,” Ron ruled. 

Kim smirked. “What about class? Can we say class? Or does that become the c-word?”

“No, course is the c-word,” Bonnie chimed in. 

Ron glared at both of them. “Are you trying to make me come up with some other words I shouldn’t be saying to you?”

Kim laughed. “We’re just trying to relax. Isn’t that what you wanted us to do?” 

“You know what, we’re going to the beach right now to make sure no one mentions those words!” Ron declared.

“What about lying down?” Bonnie inquired.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, you can lie down when you’re dead. Right now, we’ve got a beach of beautiful ladies, and I guess dudes for you two, to go scope out! Let’s go!” Ron cheered, throwing his hands up.

Ron really just wanted to do something that required no brainwork at all. It did not take much to go roll around in the ocean and check out women. He needed it and he knew Kim and Bonnie needed it, too. They both would run themselves ragged if he let them and he could only imagine how they never stopped to take a breath when they were at school.

The ladies did not argue with Ron’s suggestion. They figured they could nap on the beach, anyway. Bonnie found out that napping was the farthest thing from her mind when they hit the sand. She really just wanted to gawk at Kim in a bathing suit.

“Bonnie, you might want to stop staring before you make me nervous,” Kim teased as they lounged on their beach chairs. Ron was off swimming around in the water to cool off.

Bonnie only stuck her tongue out at Kim. Every now and then, she got caught looking and Kim never freaked out or got upset. Hell, one time Kim even did a little wiggle for her. It seemed to amuse Kim in a good-natured way that Bonnie did not mind when Kim busted her and taunted her about her wandering eyes.

“You’re going to let me take you dancing tonight?” Bonnie asked while settling into her chair. She placed her sleek sunglasses on her face to shield her eyes from the sun and also to make it a little less obvious when she started to ogle Kim. 

“If you ask me about this dancing thing one more time, I’m going to tell Ron you have a crush on him,” Kim replied.

“You wouldn’t!” the brunette gasped.

“I would. This place you want to take me—” the hero started, but she did not get to finish.

“Yes, Ron can come, too. You make it seem like I’m going to take you to some lesbian bondage club,” Bonnie remarked, earning a giggle from her reclining companion. 

“Didn’t you try that that one time?” Kim teased.

“I didn’t know it was fetish night! Besides, you’re the one that wanted to go to that club. I hate that place,” Bonnie argued.

Kim chuckled a bit, but she could not dispute that one since it had indeed been the club she wanted to go to. Bonnie had only made the suggestion of going out that night while Kim was the one that proposed the club in question. They had both been quite embarrassed when they walked in and saw all of the leather. It was just a little too much for both of them at the time. 

“So, dancing?” Bonnie asked.

Kim only groaned. Bonnie smiled. Sometimes, it was fun to tease Kim.

Going to a club that night was not as shocking for the friends as “fetish night” had been a few weeks back. They let go for the night, trying to forget all the stress that had weighed them down in school and all the stress that awaited them when they got back. They all danced together until Ron wandered off, being led by the hand by a very attractive chocolate-skinned woman with long braids. Bonnie and Kim laughed at the goofy expression that he had on his face. 

“Yori’s going to kill him one day,” Bonnie commented, shaking her head in an amused manner.

“And he’ll never see it coming,” Kim added with a smile.

They continued swaying to the music, knowing Ron would be fine on his own. He was not officially dating Yori, but he also was not stupid enough to do something that would mess up his chances to date her. Besides, if he strayed for too long, Kim would be on the hunt for him and she would find him before he had a chance to get caught up in anything stupid.

Bonnie and Kim came into close contact while dancing. Bonnie smiled outwardly and, inwardly, she grinned like a damned fool, enjoying the feel of Kim’s body caressing her at a good rhythm. She made sure to keep her cool, but there was something else keeping her from just focusing on the feel of Kim against her. It was the fact that Kim was consuming a lot more alcohol than usual that night.

Kim did not realize she drank so much. It was just that she felt a jolt whenever she and Bonnie touched. She was not sure what the jolt meant since it was recent development, but it weighed down on her mind. Since they were not on vacation to think too heavily about anything, Kim decided to wash the thoughts away with alcohol. Needless to say, it was not working out as well as she would have hoped and she eventually noticed the rather large flaw in her plan.

“Kimmie, I think you need to slow down,” Bonnie commented as the hero ordered another beer, her fifth of the night. It did not help matters that Kim did not weigh much and was a lightweight when it came to alcohol, anyway. 

“I’m fine,” Kim replied and then she staggered. “Well, I’m almost fine,” she corrected herself. “Almost fine” was good enough in her opinion. “Let’s keep on dancing.”

“Are you sure?” the brunette asked. Her brow furrowed in concern.

“Yeah!” Kim answered a little louder than she meant to. Thankfully, they were in a crowded, noisy club and she did not have to worry about people looking at her like she was insane. 

Bonnie decided to take Kim’s word for it for the moment. But, as soon as Kim slurred a word or took a stumble (another one anyway), it was game over and she was taking Kim home. So far, Kim seemed to be doing fine, dancing and keeping her balance. Bonnie did crane an eyebrow when Kim’s hands wandered a bit, fingertips grazing the brunette’s ass.

“You feel good…” Kim purred as she stepped a little closer to her friend. 

Bonnie tensed and gulped. “Okay, you know what, I think it’s about time to get you out of here and in bed.”

“Oh, bed,” Kim purred again. “I like the sound of that.” 

“The great Kim Possible, a drunken flirt. No one would believe me,” Bonnie muttered to herself as she started leading Kim out of the club.

The tipsy hero snickered while allowing Bonnie to take her out of the building. Kim leaned against Bonnie as they strolled out. Bonnie’s heartbeat sped up as warmth from Kim spread through her.

“I can’t believe I just noticed how nice you feel,” Kim said, the smell of alcohol slamming into Bonnie.

“I can’t believe I let you get this drunk,” Bonnie replied. She hoped Ron stayed out for a nice long time because he would flip out if he saw how smashed Kim was. He would definitely blame Bonnie, too.

Bonnie managed to get Kim back to the condo, but she did not go unmolested. _Of course she would have to be drunk to want to touch me like this_. Kim seemed to think it was quite comical, too, if all of the giggling meant anything. Bonnie took Kim up to the room they would share. It was only two bedrooms in the condo since those were cheaper than others and they were poor, lowly college students, after all. 

“Come on, Kimmie,” Bonnie said in a gentle voice as she eased Kim down onto one of the two twin-sized beds in the room.

“Bonnie’s gonna take me to bed,” Kim snickered.

Bonnie rolled her eyes. She pretty much flung Kim on the bed after that because she was tired of the groping and the smell of beer on her beloved Kim’s breath. This was not Kim and she could only wonder why Kim had done this to herself. It was not like Kim to get drunk to relax.

“I’m going to go make you some coffee and get you something to eat,” Bonnie said to Kim, who did not seem to be listening. She supposed it was not the best plan to go clubbing on empty stomachs, but then again, it was so rare for any of them to drink. 

Kim did not respond and Bonnie wondered if the hero had passed out. She did not turn around to check and just fled the room. She went to make coffee, as well as a couple of sandwiches. She returned upstairs to find that Kim was in a dead sleep. She smiled, sorrow hiding behind a gentle happiness.

“What got into you tonight?” Bonnie wondered aloud as she brushed some of Kim’s hair to the side of her face. Even when drunk, Kim was cute.

The brunette put down the coffee and sandwiches. She pulled Kim’s clothing off of her and then put the sheets over the snoozing redhead. She then left Kim alone and went to eat her sandwich. She left a couple of sandwiches wrapped up in the refrigerator while leaving a note for Ron to let him know there was some food for him if he was hungry. She then went to bed, taking a few minutes to stare at Kim and think about how she looked like a sleeping angel before she was sleeping, too.

Bonnie was taken from her sleep by the morning light and groaning coming from the other end of the room. Blue eyes opened to see a lump in the bed across from her moving about the other bed like a lost mouse. Bonnie snickered as she realized Kim was suffering from a hangover. She hoped that taught Kim not to drink so much, especially when she had not eaten and was not used to drinking. 

“How’re you feeling?” Bonnie called over to her current roommate.

“Like crap,” Kim groaned. 

The room was silent for a moment, neither female knowing exactly what to say. Kim then suddenly flung her cover from off of her and turned her attention fully to Bonnie. The brunette could only wonder why her heart sped up and her body felt like it would melt from the look Kim gave her.

“Thank you, Bonnie,” Kim apologized in her typical sincere manner.

Bonnie blinked hard from confusion. “Why are you thanking me?” 

“Because of what you did last night… and because of what you didn’t do,” Kim answered with a small smile.

“What do you mean?” Bonnie inquired, squinting as she tried to recollect just what she did and what she did not do. 

“You helped me last night… and you didn’t take advantage…” Kim explained, glancing away in embarrassment.

“Kim!” Bonnie gasped from indignation. “I would never do such a thing! You were drunk and you didn’t know what you were doing!”

“Actually, I did know what I was doing. I knew what I was saying, too. I just couldn’t stop it like I usually can. Lately, I’ve been having really weird thoughts and feelings about you. At first, I thought maybe it was just because I know you like me, but it’s more than that. I mean, I’ve never felt the electricity that you cause to race through my body through a simple touch,” Kim stated.

Bonnie’s brow furrowed. “Kimmie, what’re you saying?” she asked. Her insides trembled and her stomach felt ready to expel any little thing that might actually be in there. 

“I think… I think I want to go on a date, Bonnie. I mean, a real date. Not what we’ve been doing all year where it seems like a date, but it’s really just the two of us hanging out. I mean, that’s cool and everything, but I want to try going on a date.”

“I’d like that too, Kim,” Bonnie replied with a smile.

The brunette was actually holding back a monster-sized grin. Her whole body felt like it was made of light. Kim wanted to go on a date! It was a dream come true and Bonnie was not sure how she should act. She did not want to seem too eager because she did not desire to frighten Kim. It was so hard to not dance and sing because of Kim’s request, though.

“Is it all right if we go out tonight then?” Bonnie asked in order to avoid doing anything silly. She thought as long as she kept talking, it would be enough of a distraction for her to not make an ass out of herself. She hoped that her heartbeat calmed down sooner or later and that she did not start hyperventilating. 

“Well, if Ron has plans anyway,” Kim answered with a good-natured smile, so as not to hurt Bonnie’s feelings. After all, it was not really a date if they had to bring Ron along, even if he was their friend. But, they could not just leave Ron alone since they were all supposed to be hanging out.

“Right.” Bonnie silently cursed Ron’s existence in her head, but she did expect Kim to say such a thing.

As it turned out, Ron did not have plans beyond hanging out with them. Bonnie mentally cursed him out for the whole break, but she was still happy. She had two good friends and Kim wanted to be even closer to her.

The two ladies actually were not able to go out on a real date until they went back to school. Ron really wanted to make sure that they had a good time while they were on Spring break, so he did not leave them alone too long on their own. He made sure they had a good time, but they did not need much help in that area since they enjoyed being around each other.

-*-(End Flashback)-*-

Bonnie smiled as she remembered the best Spring break of her life. It was a time when the love of her life opened her heart and decided to try letting her in. Just thinking about it gave her that same light feeling all over again. 

“Kimmie…” Bonnie whispered. New tears gathered in her eyes as she thought about how she might have just thrown her beloved away because of some harsh words. _God, why was everything so screwed up_? More specifically, she wondered why she was so screwed up.

“Yeah, baby?” a familiar voice asked from the entrance. 

Bonnie’s head snapped up at the sound of Kim’s voice. A smile spread across her face as she saw Kim and Shego standing in the entrance of the room. She silently admitted they had seen better days. They were thinking the same of her, but she definitely looked better than the last time they saw her.

“How’d you know…?” Bonnie asked.

“Aside from the fact that I know you? My mom did call us because she’s worried about you. She wasn’t too sure what to do,” Kim explained. Her mother was worried about them, too, which was really why she called.

“She’s been doing more than she knows,” Bonnie confessed with a slight nod to support her words.

“I’m sure she does know, but she wants to do more. My father is hovering outside, wanting to do something, wanting to do more. We want to do more. You don’t have to go through this alone,” Kim informed her. 

“Even if you still don’t want us,” Shego added. The words tasted utterly bitter in her mouth and she wanted to spit on the floor to rid herself of the taste. She held off and waited for Bonnie to respond.

Bonnie sniffled. “I’m sorry for what I said. I love you both so much!” And she was bawling again.

Shego and Kim groaned while glancing at each other. They really hated it when Bonnie cried. They both approached her and wrapped her in a loving embrace. She fell into their arms and hid her face in Kim’s shoulder. Shego gently caressed the small of Bonnie’s back. 

“I’m sorry for what I said. I was just so upset last night. Everything is going so crazy and my head is spinning all the time,” Bonnie tried to explain.

“It’s okay, Bonnie. You were under a lot of stress,” Kim practically cooed in a tender, affectionate tone.

“Still, I had no right to blame this all on you.” Bonnie picked her head up and locked eyes with her baby. “Kim, I didn’t even know what happiness was until I became real friends with you. I didn’t know I could feel like I was make of candy and light until you agreed to go out with me. I didn’t know how I could feel capable of taking on anything and everything until you kissed me. I can’t blame you for losing family that never really cared about me in the beginning or friends that obviously weren’t true to me because they left when I was dating you. Last night, I was just feeling so many things and I didn’t know who to take it out on, so I took it out on the two people there at the time,” she elaborated.

“It’s okay. You went through a lot last night and you had to be overwhelmed,” Kim said.

“That doesn’t excuse the fact that I nearly threw away the two people I love the most, the two people who love me the most.” Bonnie turned and looked at Shego. “I’m sorry to you, too, Shego. I know you were just trying to stand up for me when you went after Lyle before. I also know you don’t have any control over your psycho ex-girlfriend. I know you’re here to protect me,” she stated.

“Damn right I am. I’m pissed that I’ve been doing a piss-poor job of it, too. I mean, what that cocksucker tried to do was because I didn’t protect you,” Shego declared with a scowl.

“No! That’s not why. It’s not your fault. He’s an asshole. It’s as simple as that. He’s just a fucking asshole,” Bonnie proclaimed loudly. Shouting such a thing actually made her feel a little better. 

“That he is and we need to make sure that this never happens again,” Kim said soundly.

“How? I mean, obviously threatening his life doesn’t work,” Bonnie pointed out.

“We’re going to get him tossed out of that firm, first off. This shit isn’t cool. I mean, before it might have seemed like some teasing, hazing, but this shit is serious. This is criminal fucking behavior and I don’t give a shit what anybody there says, he’s got to go,” Shego said.

“Yes, we have to do something about his behavior. We don’t want him thinking that he got away with one attempt because he might try again and he might come better prepared since he knows you can kick his ass,” Kim informed their shaken lover. 

Bonnie went stiff for a second, thinking about him trying it a second time. She curled into Kim’s body while pulling Shego into her back, sandwiching herself between her lovers. Her stomach flipped as that familiar feeling of warmth and safety washed over her like a soothing showers. _This is how they’re supposed to feel_ , Bonnie commented mentally. She smiled, glad that horrible empty sensation was gone.

“Thank you both for loving me so much,” Bonnie whispered.

“Baby, you’re so special that it’s impossible to not love you,” Kim commented, fingers drawing small circles on the attorney’s arm. She kissed the top of Bonnie’s head. 

“Only you two…” Bonnie replied in a trembling voice while pulling Shego even closer. Shego was now pressed up against Bonnie’s back, blanketing the smaller woman. She placed a soft kiss to Bonnie’s neck.

“Other people are too stupid to see it or you just scare them, but we love you and our families love you, too. You have people in this world, Bonnie,” Shego promised the lawyer.

Bonnie nodded, knowing that was the truth. She had them and she had their families. Hell, Ann and James had taken her in, even though she was considering leaving their daughter. She hoped she did always have that type of support.

“We’re always here, no matter what,” Kim vowed and Bonnie knew those words were to settle her unspoken fears. In the event of a breakup, which they all prayed never did happen, they would still be there for each other. 

“I love you both,” Bonnie said.

“We love you, too,” both Kim and Shego replied.

They were all quiet after that, just reveling in the closeness that they shared. Kim eventually moved the breakfast tray off of the bed and they ended up lying down. They stayed like that for an undetermined amount of time before Shego broke the silence. 

“We should probably go up to the firm and speak to the partners about what happened,” Shego suggested.

“You want to go talk to Charlie Darrow again? Every time you speak to him, he pisses you off,” Kim pointed out.

“Well, I’m not going to let him piss me off this time. He’s one of the named partners, so he has to be able to do something and I will make sure he gets off of his ass and does something this time,” Shego vowed with grit in her voice.

“Do we really need to go up there?” Bonnie asked. She shivered a little, thinking about what had almost happened to her in that building just yesterday. She just wanted to forget for a little while.

“Of course we do!” Kim and Shego answered with fire.

Bonnie blushed, just slightly embarrassed from the emotion that her loves displayed for her. It made her feel good knowing they were willing to go through great lengths for her. She knew she would do the same for them, so she needed to do the same for herself. She also needed to accept their help.

“Would you rather we go to the police?” Kim offered. Bonnie was the by-the-book-lawyer, after all. Maybe she would rather file a police report and everything.

The idea made a lump form in Bonnie’s stomach. If she were the lawyer for this and asked advise from a client, she would be all for going to the police. Right now, she did not even want to think about that. She did not want a record of this. She wanted to forget it ever happened. Besides, she knew Shego had plans that would be worse than jail for Lyle. After all, look at what Shego had done to Tina Mallory and Tina had touched her to harm her. 

“Can we go up to the firm today? What day is it?” Bonnie wondered aloud. She felt so lost and considered it might be a Saturday or a Sunday.

“Baby, I think you just took an unofficial day off,” Kim remarked while Shego snickered a bit. Shego was not sure the last time Bonnie took a day off, without counting when she was fired anyway. 

“Damn it. I didn’t think about calling in,” Bonnie growled.

“It’s fine. You were entitled to this one,” Shego replied. 

Bonnie nodded. She took enough crap at that firm to get a day off, especially after last night. At the moment, she would not even care if they fired her. While she loved having a job, she just was not interested in being some place that made her unhappy. Kim and Shego made her realize that life was not all about misery and pain. She could be happy and she wanted to be happy.

“I need to take a shower and everything before we go,” Bonnie said. 

“Take your time,” Shego said with a yawn. Kim followed suit. They had not gotten any sleep last night and they figured they would be able to catch a little half-hour nap since Bonnie seemed to be okay now.

“Maybe you even want to finish your breakfast,” Kim added. 

Bonnie nodded and managed to pull herself away from her lovers. She watched them immediately fall asleep as she stood by the bed. She supposed she had exhausted them with worry. In a way, it actually made her glad because she knew they cared about her and they loved her enough to feel concern for her and anxiety because she left. She doubted any of her “family” ever gave a damn if she left.

“I hope this is forever. I don’t know what I would do without all of their love and support,” Bonnie murmured. 

Bonnie reached out and caressed Shego’s cheek. Shego turned into her hand and she pulled away, not wanting to wake Shego. She leaned down and gave her a light kiss. She then did the same to Kim.

“I love you both so much. You’re so patient and caring,” Bonnie whispered before stepping away.

The lawyer ate a little more of her breakfast and then showered. She thought about how she almost let a moment of emotional overload destroy the most precious thing she had: her new family. Shego and Kim were her family. Added to everything they gave her, they also gave her extended family. She was not willing to part with any of that.

“At least I know that now. Last night was just a major freak out, which they recognized for what it was. I’m glad they didn’t take any of that to heart and they came to get me,” she muttered to the air.

After her shower, Bonnie dressed in casual clothing, which consisted of a pair of jeans she had, a pair of boots (they were actually Kim’s, but she never wore them), and a regular t-shirt with a cartoon female devil on it. She glanced at her lovers, who were still sound asleep, and decided to give them a few more minutes. She left the room and sought out Ann.

The neurosurgeon was in the kitchen, gathering up some papers and trying to down a mug of coffee at the same time. Bonnie did not disturb Ann until the papers were safely in a folder and the coffee mug was placed down. She then cleared her throat and Ann nearly jumped out of her skin. 

“Bonnie! I didn’t see you there,” Ann said with an embarrassed laugh. 

“I can see you were focused on other things,” Bonnie answered.

“Yeah. I’ve got a special case flying in tonight and I was just reading up on him. Do you need something?” Ann asked.

“Only to thank you and your husband for opening your home to me. Thank you for being there and for comforting me, even though I said I walked out on Kim. You could’ve turned me away since I’m really nobody to you, but you didn’t,” Bonnie explained with a tearful look on her face. 

“Aw, sweetie, you are someone to me and to my husband. We like you and we think you’re good for Kim. Even if sometime in the future, something happened and caused you to end the relationship, we would still be here for you. Kim would still be here for you. We just like you and, to us, you are part of our little clan. So, it’s not like we think of you as ‘Kimmie’s girlfriend’ or anything like that. We see you as Bonnie and we like Bonnie,” Ann said with a smile.

“Ah, crap,” Bonnie muttered as tears started to slide down her cheeks. She was so emotional lately, she thought as she started wiping her tears away. 

“Don’t cry,” Ann implored the younger woman, even though she knew that those were not tears of sorrow. She went to Bonnie and lightly hugged her.

“Thank you all, so much,” Bonnie said, wrapping her arms around Ann and giving her a tight squeeze.

“Thank you.”

“Why thank me?” 

“Because you’re you.”

Bonnie laughed. “You’re amazing.” 

Ann waved it off and released Bonnie. The attorney retreated from the kitchen and went back upstairs. Ann quickly reached for the nearest phone, which happened to be her cell phone on the table by the papers that she needed. She made a fast call.

“Yes, Ann?” Isabel inquired as she answered her phone. 

“You know, you sound rude even saying that simple phrase,” the doctor teased.

“Now you know where Shego gets it from. Speaking of my fiery daughter, she didn’t do something stupid, did she?” Isabel asked.

“Why do you ask that?”

“She called me last night, but she was so overwrought that she couldn’t even explain whatever it was she was trying to say. Kim eventually got on the phone and said they’d call me back later on when everything settled down. Is everything all right?”

“They had a scare is all. Bonnie had a problem and she walked out on them last night. She stayed here last night and they came to get her about forty minutes ago. They’re all together again now, patching things up in Kim’s room. I’m sure they’ll explain it to you in better detail when everything is settled,” Ann reported.

“All right. So, then I guess that’s not what you’re calling about,” Isabel commented.

“No. I wanted to talk to you about Bonnie,” Ann answered.

“All right. Is she okay?”

“Physically speaking, Bonnie is fine. I was thinking she needs more familial support. Bonnie’s the only one out of them that can’t call her mother if something’s amiss. She can’t call a sibling to vent. Outside of Kim and Shego, Bonnie really has no family to speak of. Even with the few friends they have, they sort of share them, so it’s hard to vent to their friends. So, I was thinking maybe both of our families could start doing more get-togethers with the girls, just to give Bonnie a feeling of belonging in our families. I mean, I know we see her as family and I’ve seen you and Kane with her, so I know how you feel. I just want Bonnie to start feeling it,” Ann explained. Bonnie needed more than words now. She needed actions. Maybe she always needed actions, which was Kim was the ideal partner for her, and maybe why Shego was, too.

“Excellent idea. I am starting to see how it is you’re a brain surgeon, although I can’t for the life of me figure out why you married that husband of yours,” Isabel remarked.

“I figure you would know better than anyone with your _own_ husband,” Ann countered.

“Touché. Kane, always a liability. Speaking of him, if you could tell my daughter that her dear daddy is surfing in California, it would be great. She worries about him, even though she never says so,” Isabel requested. 

“Does she really?” It was hard to picture Shego worrying about anyone except Kim and Bonnie.

“She tries to hide it. I’m sure you guessed that with the way she treats Kim.” 

“I get the feeling it’s inherited,” Ann remarked.

“Watch it, Possible. I might like you and your daughter, but I’m not below roughing you up,” Isabel teased.

Ann chuckled a bit. It was easy to see where Shego got a lot of her personality, she thought. They bid each other farewell and disconnected the call after that. Ann could hear the trio mulling about upstairs, making their way to the stairs, and eventually to the foyer. Ann was not surprised when she heard them leave without anyone calling out a farewell. Just the sound of their footsteps let her know they were ladies on a mission.

-8-8-8-8-

The trio ignored odd stares as they entered the firm and marched right to Charlie Darrow’s office. No one dared to say anything about Bonnie failing to call in and no one mentioned she was going to pretty much miss the whole day, nor did anyone say anything about her improper state of dress. Most of the people just gawked at the three, not sure what to make of them. 

Shego led the way to the large double doors of Charlie Darrow’s office and wasted no time kicking them in. He was actually with a client. They both jumped in shock and then turned to the door. Frowns were shown all around.

“Shego,” Charlie growled. 

“We need to talk, right now,” Shego stated with grit in her tone.

“I’m with a client,” Charlie pointed out while motioning to his client, a well-dressed businessman.

“I don’t give a fuck. We need to talk, right now. So, Mister I-don’t-give-two-fucks-what-your-name-is, make another appointment and get the fuck out. Me and my lawyer have to chitchat,” Shego informed the man.

The glint in her eyes, as well as the same look in her companions’ eyes, let the client know he needed to get out there while he had a chance. He said a hasty farewell to Charlie, explaining he just remembered he had another engagement and he would reschedule their meeting. He then rushed out of the room and Kim slammed the door shut behind him. 

“Shego, you spoiled brat, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Charlie demanded as he rushed up from his seat.

“Sit the fuck down,” Shego ordered in a tone that he had never heard before. She pointed at him.

The senior partner sat down before he even realized it. The three ladies stormed his desk like attacking warships. They flanked him on three sides with Shego standing in front of him, Kim to the left, and Bonnie to the right. All three of them glared, withering his soul from what he could feel. 

“Now, there was an incident yesterday, a fucking criminal incident,” Shego informed her attorney, jabbing the desk with her index finger. Her claw cut into the hard wood.

“Like what?” he demanded, but it was clear from his voice that he was skeptical.

“Last night, I was attacked,” Bonnie reported, trying her best to sound normal. It worked for the most part, but some anger inched into her tone as well. 

“Attacked?” he echoed, frowning. His face scrunched up some, not understanding. Why would someone attack Bonnie?

“Yes, attacked. Last night while I was working late in my office, Lyle barged in. He…” Bonnie had to pause and take a deep breath. 

Charlie frowned deeper because of the pause. He knew Bonnie was not one for melodramatics, so the breath was sincere. He was loath to think of what she was about to say, especially considering the man she brought up.

“Take your time, babe,” Kim said to Bonnie to help her continue the tale.

“I know.” Bonnie took another breath. “I was working late last night. Lyle came into my office and refused to leave, no matter how many times I demanded that he do so. He backed me into my desk… he bent me over…” Hot, angry tears gathered in Bonnie’s eyes and she clenched her fists together. Her hands shook and a tear rolled down her cheek, going over a bruise that had formed overnight.

Shego’s hands shifted into fists without her brain’s permission. Kim’s body tensed while her heart quivered from nervousness and unfilled wrath. Charlie glanced between each woman as his teeth began to grind together. This story had better not end how it sounded it was going to end, his mind stated. 

“I was able to fight him off, but he did try. He fucking tried,” Bonnie reported as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, much like a child.

Charlie nodded for a moment while his eyes focused on nothing. A vein in his neck pulsed and another vein bulged from his forehead. He then grabbed the phone on his desk.

“Get Lyle in here right now,” he demanded from his receptionist.

The trio did not say anything from his tense appearance or short order. It barely took a minute for Lyle to enter the office. He came in with his usual swagger and had the nerve to smile at the ladies. 

Shego’s arm began to tremble with desire, wanting nothing more than to wrap her hands around Lyle’s throat and choke him until his head popped off of his shoulders. Kim was more interested in punching him repeatedly until he was unrecognizable. Because of those feelings, Kim made a conscious effort to keep her hands open, not trusting herself enough to have her hands balled up. Bonnie just made sure to keep eye contact with Lyle, letting him know she was not afraid of him.

“You called, Charlie?” Lyle asked in quite the familiar tone as he stood before the senior partner.

“Lyle, I called you in here because Miss Rockwaller has informed me that something happened between you two last night. I’ve heard her side, now I would like to hear your side,” Charlie stated.

Charlie was quite shocked Shego and Bonnie stayed calm and quiet after he said that. Neither of them even shot him glares. It was as if they were not upset he was implying that he did not believe Bonnie or that she might not be telling the whole truth. He could not remember the last time that Shego was so calm around him. He glanced at Kim, having a feeling this was her influence.

“Oh, that little thing.” Lyle let a light chuckle loose before continuing. “I went to check on her last night since she was in here so late and we had a little fun. What’s wrong with that?” He shrugged and threw on his best boyish smiles. 

“What do you mean when you say you ‘had a little fun’?” Charlie inquired. His face and voice showed he did not share the blond man’s sense of humor in the matter.

“What? We just had a little fun. You know how it is,” Lyle answered, shrugging again. “I don’t see how my personal life is an issue.”

“You might want to make it an issue right now. Because you telling me ‘we had a little fun’ isn’t working and telling me I know how it is definitely isn’t getting you anywhere. Now, based on the fact that I know Miss Rockwaller wouldn’t have ‘a little fun’ with you even if you were the last man on Earth and I know how you are, I’m starting to think that ‘we had a little fun’ was a case of your arrogant ass deciding you were going to straighten a little dyke out,” Charlie growled in anger, paraphrasing what he thought was going through Lyle’s mind last night with that last bit. 

Lyle flinched a little. “Wha-what?” he sputtered. It would seem he was caught off-guard by the fact that the boss was not on his side.

“Lyle, you’re fired,” Charlie stated plainly, eye boring onto the now unemployed attorney. 

“WHAT!” Lyle roared. His face was bright red from his sudden rage at the surprise.

“You’re fired and you’re getting off easy with that,” Charlie repeated, just as plainly as before.

“You’re firing me based on a lies spouted by this baby dyke?” Lyle demanded, pointing a finger at Bonnie. She did not flinch from the unwanted attention or harsh words. 

“You just better hope to hell that she doesn’t want to press charges because I damn sure would put all of my power behind her. Who the fuck do you think you are? You’re going to come in here and try to rape a woman because she’s not attracted to you? This is bullshit, Lyle. I don’t give a fuck who you think you are or who your fucking uncle is. Get the fuck out. Don’t even bother to clear out your office. We’ll mail it to you,” Charlie informed him.

“You can’t just fire me!” Lyle raged. 

“I just did,” Charlie said.

“My uncle—” 

“Will undoubtedly be disappointed when he hears about this, but I’m sure the Congressman will not want to put much effort behind defending an attempted rapist,” Charlie replied.

“You haven’t heard the last from me!” Lyle pointed out to the elder man before storming out of the office.

“I’m sure I haven’t,” Charlie sighed, shaking his head in sheer disgust. He then turned his attention back to the trio. “Bonnie, seriously, if you want to press charges, I will back you,” he said in a dead serious tone.

“Thank you, sir. I wouldn’t want to bring any negative press to the firm, though,” Bonnie answered. Besides, she doubted they had much of a case since it was her word against Lyle’s and apparently Lyle was related to a congressman, so it would not be easy.

“We represent the Go family. We already have negative press,” Charlie remarked with a forced smirk.

“It’s all right for now, sir. I would like to know why you fired him this time around. I mean, I know Shego’s come in here complaining about how he behaved and everything, but you never said anything about it,” Bonnie pointed out.

“Well, after Shego bitched to me about things, I did have a few people keep an eye on him. I didn’t like what I was hearing. He’s also got a bit of a track record with hitting on coworkers. This thing that you brought up, I’ve never heard him doing something like this, but I wouldn’t put it past him. His ego probably couldn’t take it,” Charlie answered.

“There’s more to it than that, isn’t it?” Shego asked. She could see it in his demeanor, his odd tension. This latest issue was something more to him than when she had been in here complaining. 

Charlie glanced away. He took a deep breath and then let it out in a sigh. He turned back to them and rubbed his chin roughly with one hand. Silence reigned over the room for a long moment and then Charlie surprised them all as he started talking. 

“This doesn’t leave this office,” he warned them with a raised finger. “I have two daughters, one of whom is a lesbian. She was pretty young when she came out, still in high school. Some of the boys, they thought they could turn the pretty little gay girl straight by trying to sexually assault her,” his voice was hard, his bottom lip trembling.

“Did they…?” Kim asked quietly. 

He ran his hand over his mouth to halt the quiver in his lip. “They came damn close. Luckily enough for her, they had told a few too many people about their plans and some good guys showed up to help her. They did beat her rather badly, though. The nerve of those boys to think they could do such a thing to her and think that it was all right…” he trailed off and just shook his head.

“This hit close to home. Thank you for believing me,” Bonnie said.

“You don’t have to thank me for that. Just keep the job you’ve been doing, so I know it was wise to hire you,” Charlie replied, already putting his emotions back where they belonged – out of view. Well, that was where they belonged in his opinion.

Bonnie nodded. She and Kim exited the office after that. Shego looked at Charlie for a moment and he waited for her to say something smart. He was stunned when she did not say anything. She merely left with her lovers.

“I can’t believe that little bastard,” Charlie snarled, thinking about that smartass Lyle. He knew he had not seen the last of Lyle, but he had reason to believe that Lyle was not going to be a danger to anyone. Not if Bonnie meant anything to Shego, anyway.

-8-8-8-8- 

Shego was in the living room, sitting in the dark, in her pajamas of simple black shorts and a matching sports bra. She had the phone in one hand and was petting Cali with the other. The cat was curled up in her lap, sound asleep.

“Yeah, Mommy, the fucker’s name is Lyle. Kim’s already called in quite a few favors to get the ball rolling,” Shego reported.

“Kim?” Isabel was shocked the little redheaded angel would be interested in totally ruining a man. But, then again, this was no ordinary man. This was the man who hurt Bonnie and tried to do even worse, so Isabel could understand how Kim could let her demon side out to play.

“Yes, Kim. The man tried to rape Bonnie,” Shego hissed.

“I realize that and he will pay. I’ll start doing my part. This is more than what we did to that little reporter. This is serious,” Isabel said through gritted teeth. Her anger was trying to boil over. The only thing keeping it in check was the fact that she was going to hurting the asshole who touched Bonnie soon enough.

“Yeah, so the kid gloves are off. Also, make sure someone’s watching him at all times. I don’t want him going after another girl after everything starts falling apart around him.” 

“Of course. Let me know when you get started, so I know when I should turn up the heat,” Isabel stated.

“Of course. Well, let me get to bed before Bonnie starts scolding me about not getting a good night’s sleep.”

Shego disconnected the call after that, knowing her mother was doing the same. Yes, they planned to do to Lyle what they had done to Tina Mallory. There was a distinct difference. While Tina had done what she did out of sheer greed and overzealousness, she had not been out to personally harm them. Lyle had intentionally targeted Bonnie for some serious harm, though. There was not going to be any apologizing for him. He was now going to be stuck in perpetual mystery until she, her mother, and Kim decided they had had enough of him. Until then, he was just going to be their plaything.

Shego picked herself up off of the couch. She put the phone down while keeping the cat in her arms. She walked to the bedroom, putting Cali down in a little pet bed by the foot of the bed, and then she climbed into bed.

Kim and Bonnie were already lying down. Bonnie was curled into Kim’s form while Kim had protective arms wrapped around the brunette. Shego pressed herself into Bonnie and wrapped her arms around the lawyer. Bonnie’s arms moved in her sleep and sought out Shego’s warm form. Shego was able to fall asleep after moving her arm enough to where she was touching both of her girlfriends. They always got the best sleeps when they were all touching.

For the time being, all was right in their world. Tomorrow, it might be different, but they felt confidence in their ability to pull through whatever the universe decided to throw at them, especially after this ordeal. They were going to be together forever, they silently vowed.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Isabel comes around more often and Shego doesn’t like it.


	22. Axis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own most of these characters; Disney does. I do own Lyle and Isabel, but other than that, everybody else belongs to Disney. I don’t own the song “Bad to the Bone.” I also don’t own Elmo.
> 
> This chapter came from an idea given to me by List of Romantics.
> 
> A/N: sexual content at the end of the chapter.

22: Axis

Lyle Townsend prided himself on many things, as he had a lot of accomplishments in his short life – at least, according to him. He was one of the top lawyers at a prestigious law firm… Well, he was up until last week. He was fired without any real reason – in his opinion anyway. Other parties would have other arguments on the matter. 

His life had gone rapidly downhill after being fired and he had a feeling that it had to do with that Sheshona Go, also known as Shego, but he liked to refer to her as “that bitch.” He knew she had something to do with his string of “misfortunes” because she was lovers with Bonnie Rockwaller, or “the dyke-bitch that got him unjustly fired,” as he thought of her.

He would make them rue the day that they messed with him… someday, anyway. At the moment, he was too busy trying to get his life together. Although it seemed like everything was rapidly crumbling in front of him, no matter what he did.

Since losing his job, Lyle had had many “accidents” and even his trump card of an uncle, who was a congressman, could not help him. Or refused to help him, he was not sure which. He had friends in high places, not Congress-high, but high enough, and they could not or would not help him either.

The first of his many “accidents” involved the IRS, who suddenly wanted to audit him over taxes he supposedly owed. His accountant claimed to be handling it, but the way the man was not returning his phone calls did not lift his spirits. He had a sense of dread that he was going to lose some money – or worse than that if his luck continued going on as it was. And his money was one of the things he prided himself on.

His accounts at various banks had been frozen and he could not get a straight answer as to why. He was told it had something to do with the IRS, but the explanation was never crisp. His threats fell on deaf ears and really he had not had the time to follow through on any of them yet because of other misfortunes that just did not seem to stop coming his way.

Continuing on with his horrible brush with fate, after his debacle with the banks, there was his wonderful car. It had been imported right from Germany… and was probably on its way back there right now. Something about it being stolen and he was looking into it. It was a ridiculous story, but it got his car taken from him. He was making time to try to get the car back, but he kept getting the run around from everyone.

After losing his car, Lyle suddenly found himself losing his home, too. He owned – well, used to own – a fabulous condo, which he had recently been kicked out of. He was certain he was illegally evicted, but when he reviewed the contract he signed for living in the building that his condo was in, he found out there were grounds for his ejection.

Apparently, there had been vermin in his apartment. In fact, he woke up with a rat resting on his chest. There had been complaints against the state that he kept his home, which he had never heard about until he was being tossed out on his ass for filthiness that affected the whole building. So, in less than a week, he was homeless, jobless, and penniless. And he just knew “that bitch,” also known as Shego, was the reason for all of his misery.

“I won’t let that fucking bitch win. I’ll give her back ten times worse than what she gives me,” Lyle vowed, sitting on a park bench. If only he knew that this was just the beginning of his “misfortunes.”

He seethed, thinking about what he would do to Shego and that little dyke Bonnie. He would make Shego watch as he set Bonnie straight. The very idea put a crooked smile on his face.

“Yeah, I’ll make her watch and then I’ll do her just the same,” he decided before a police officer came and made him move along from the bench. “Hey, this is a public space,” he hissed.

“It is, but they just painted that bench,” the cop pointed out.

Lyle scowled and looked at the bench, wanting to see a “wet paint” sign. There was not one. He checked his suit jacket and saw it was covered in brown paint. Groaning, he threw his hands up.

“Son of a bitch!” Lyle stomped his foot. This was one of the last suits he had. The rest had been infested with bugs from his condo.

-8-8-8-8-

Shego was in the game room, doing her act of beating up on the pinball machine. A ringing disturbed her action. Usually, she would have just left the phone ringing, but it was annoyingly close and coming through loudly. She growled while twisting around to locate the thing. She spotted it by her feet.

“Damn it, how many times do I have to tell Cali to stop playing around with this phone?” Shego wondered aloud, knowing the cat was the reason for the phone by her and on the floor. Cali seemed to think it was a toy of some kind and the ringing was part of a game.

Shego tried to lean down to pick it up quickly and not mess up her game. She reached with her left hand just as the ball came down near the left bumper. She could not react fast enough and lost her last ball. She frowned, which turned into a scowl when she saw the number on the caller ID.

“Mommy, what the hell do you want?” Shego demanded in a harsher tone than she usually used with her mother, not that it would faze her mother… or she cared or anything.

“Well, that’s a fine way to greet your mother. Hello to you, too, firefly,” Isabel remarked, voice making it clear that she was smiling on the other end of the line.

“Mommy, what the hell do you want? It better be good, too, because you just made me lose my damn game,” Shego huffed.

“You’re such a nerd,” Isabel teased with a laugh.

“It wasn’t a video game!” Shego snarled. She was not a nerd. She made fun of nerds. Wade knew that.

“Either way, you’re a grown woman playing games outside of your bedroom. This makes you a nerd.”

Sucking her teeth, Shego’s upper lip curled into a snarl. “What-the-hell-ever. Did you call me just to insult me?” She would not put it past her mother to call just to belittle her.

“Actually, I’m not calling for you at all. I would like to speak with Bonnie.”

“Bonnie?” Emerald eyes blinked hard, as if she did not know who Bonnie was.

“Yes, Bonnie. You know, that sweet little lawyer who shares a life with you for some unknown reason.”

“More than likely for the same reason Daddy shares his life with you,” Shego countered smugly.

“I doubt she’d die without you. Anyway, are you going to put her on the phone sometime today or should I just call her cell phone?”

“You should’ve done that in the first place. You wouldn’t have made me lose my game then!” Shego barked.

Her mother scoffed into the phone. Moments later, she was handed over to Bonnie, who was in the living room with documents spread out all over the coffee table. Bonnie covered the phone receiver with her hand.

“Who is it?” Bonnie asked Shego. She did not want to talk to just anyone, especially since she had work to do.

“Calm down. It’s just the she-devil,” Shego answered.

“Oh.” Bonnie would make time for Shego’s mother and she turned her attention to the phone. “Hi, Isabel.”

“Hello, Bonnie dear. How have you been lately?” Isabel inquired in her usual friendly tone. She hoped Bonnie was doing better than she had been a week ago when she had walked out on her girlfriends. 

“I’m doing better,” Bonnie answered, knowing what Isabel hinted to. She tried not to think about, even though Kim insisted that was no way to work through the trouble. She felt better knowing her girlfriends were there for her and she did not have to see Lyle at work anymore. Eventually, she would talk about… maybe.

“That’s good. That’s good. How’s work?”

“It’s been much better lately. I got some new cases since one of the attorneys was let go, but I like working. So, it’s going really well,” Bonnie answered with a smile and that was the truth. Apparently, Lyle could not take his work with him for whatever reason and his work got divided up. She got a good chunk.

“That is wonderful. I wanted things to go that way with you from the start. Kane and I had no idea that place would be so rough on you, but it’s good to show them that you can do all that we claimed and more.”

Bonnie nodded. “It was Hell, but I did enjoy making them eat crow every time they thought I couldn’t do something. Thank you for giving me the opportunity.”

“That was no problem at all, dear. Now, I was calling with the hopes of dragging you away from whatever you’re doing right now. I’m in the area and I need to do some shopping.”

“Why not take Shego with you?” Bonnie proposed, turning to look at her lover. Shego was in the game room, back at the pinball machine. She was certain Isabel would prefer to take Shego.

“While I know Shego has her trendy moments, she’s not as fashion-conscious as she pretends to be. Have you actually seen her put on anything stylish other than when going out on dates?”

The lawyer stopped and thought about it. Shego actually was not very stylish when no one was looking. She preferred comfortable clothing, especially in the house. Hell, her favorite pair of pants were black sweats and those had a giant hole in the inner thigh. Outside, Shego tended to wear casual things, jeans, plain shirts, nothing too flashy. She really only dug deep with fashion when they were going out some place and they all wanted to look nice. She did show some fashion sense when it came to undergarments, but Bonnie was not about to talk about that with Shego’s mom.

“You’re right. Shego knows fashion, but she doesn’t really adhere to it,” Bonnie commented with a laugh.

“I told you, she’s a nerd. You just have to watch her carefully to pick up on the nerdy things that she does. So, what do you say we hit some shops and do a little spending of our own?” Isabel proposed.

“I don’t really have the money…” Bonnie tried to explain. She also had work to do.

“Nonsense! You’re going out with me! It’s all on me,” Isabel declared. “Well, really, it’s all on Kane, but he doesn’t need to know that. Not that he would do anything or even care if he did know.”

The attorney chuckled a bit, knowing Isabel was joking. If Isabel was anything like the daughter that she raised, Isabel hated using anything but her own money, even when treating.

“So, what do you say?” Isabel asked.

“Give me a half-hour to get ready,” Bonnie answered. It would be nice to spend some time with Isabel. She liked Shego’s mother and would like to get to know her better. Besides, she could use a break from work to avoid stressing herself out.

“Wonderful!” Isabel actually chirped.

The phone call was ended and Bonnie went to get ready. When she was dressed and everything, her girlfriends noticed. Kim, who was jotting down notes in a book for the upcoming tournament, spoke up first.

“Baby, where’re you going?” Kim inquired from her space on the floor.

“I’m going out with Isabel,” Bonnie answered with a shrug.

“Make sure she doesn’t devour your soul while you’re out!” Shego called from the game room.

“Isabel’s taking you, but not taking Shego?” Kim wondered aloud. That seemed a little unusual to her.

“Thank God!” Shego shouted.

And with that, Kim shrugged it all off. _Maybe Isabel finally brought into the front that Shego did not want to be around her_. Of course, that did not seem like the case, but Kim did not try figure out Shego’s relationship with her mother. They were just weird.

“Uh… have a good time then,” Kim said to Bonnie.

Bonnie bid them farewell with a hug and a kiss each, along with an “I love you.” She made it a point to say that to make sure that they knew, but also to remind herself. After what happened last week with Lyle, leading to her shouting horrible things at the two people that she knew loved her most in life, she wanted them all to know just how much she cared for them every moment that it was possible, through words, gestures, or whatever she could manage. She did not want to take them for granted again or she might lose them, which was possibly her worst fear now.

Bonnie met with Isabel downstairs. Isabel hugged her as a greeting, which was nice. Bonnie smiled as they pulled away and Isabel smiled back.

“All right. I will confess, I don’t drive, and I let my cab go,” Isabel said.

“You don’t drive?” Bonnie asked. She never noticed it.

“I do not. It brings no end of amusement to my husband and children,” Isabel admitted.

“You never wanted to learn?” Bonnie asked. “And this my car, right here.” She motioned to her car right in front.

“I’ve tried. I think I took years off Kane’s life,” Isabel replied.

Bonnie laughed. It seemed a little absurd to her that this woman who seemed capable of anything could not drive. It was like if Kim or Shego could not drive.

They got into the car and Isabel gave Bonnie directions to where they were going. They drove passed the mall, but Bonnie did not say anything. It was Isabel’s show and she wanted to see where it would lead. It led out of Middleton into Upperton, but did not stop until it reached the fashion district of the city.

“This is where you want to shop?” Bonnie asked in disbelief, looking at all of the shops they passed. On her best day, she would not even be able to walk off with a pair of shoes from one of the boutiques here.

“Of course. Only the best for us,” Isabel answered with a small smile.

Bonnie nodded and figured she found out Shego definitely acquired her taste for fine things and money-spending habits honestly. After all, Kane had bought them a trip to the tropics, all expenses paid, and now Isabel was willing to treat her to the finest clothes in the tri-county area. Spoiling was in Shego’s DNA. She smiled and finally started counting herself amongst the lucky just for having the few very good people around her that she did.

“Let’s get started. There are only so many hours of daylight left and so many stores I’d like to visit,” Isabel declared. Her sidekick for the day could only nod again. With that, they were off.

-8-8-8-8-

The sound of the front door opening alerted the ladies in the apartment that their missing mate had returned. Cali was the first one up, charging on all fours to the front in order to greet Bonnie. The cat paused when she saw her target, swamped with bags, and little room for her to maneuver in order to rub against Bonnie’s leg as she had planned. Kim followed behind the cat just in time to see Cali squeezing her chubby body in between a pair of bulging bags. Shego was last.

“Damn, what’d you do, buy out the whole mall?” Shego inquired when she saw all of the stuff.

“It’s your mother. Going shopping with her is a serious adventure. Whatever the hell she thought would look good on me was quickly bought. Hell, whatever she thought would look good on Kim was bought, too, when I told her Kim’s size,” Bonnie informed them. She doubted it would be received well if she mentioned she had things for Shego as well.

“Leave it to Mommy to go overboard,” Shego grumbled, shaking her head. “She didn’t need to buy you all this shit.”

“I know. I kept telling her to stop, but she doesn’t really listen,” Bonnie reported. It reminded her of someone else she knew.

“She’s fucking hard-headed,” Shego said. Her girlfriends were polite enough not to say anything to that and she continued on. “She doesn’t need to buy you shit.” She turned her nose up.

“Well, it was just for the day, Shego. It’s not like she’s going to be buying me shit everyday,” Bonnie pointed out. She knew Shego disliked it when someone else spoiled her or Kim. Frankly, she much preferred when Shego was the one spoiling her. Something about that seemed right while she was a bit uncomfortable being a grown woman taking things from Isabel.

“It better not happen again,” Shego stated, folding her hands across her chest.

“Well, you can show us everything you got after dinner,” Kim said, wanting to change the topic before the eldest among them exploded with irritation from Isabel’s actions.

The trio sat down to eat at the kitchen counter. Cali stayed on the floor, down by their legs. She wandered from human to human, waiting for them to drop her little bits of chicken. There was plenty of chicken for the cat since they all knew she thoroughly enjoyed anything roasted.

“She’s going to get fat… fatter,” Shego commented, nodding down at the cat.

“Nah. You exercise plenty, don’t you, Cali?” Kim reached down and rubbed the calico’s head. Cali purred in confirmation that she did exercise plenty. She did not appreciate her humans – Shego and Bonnie – swearing that she was fat all the time. She was healthy and agile.

“Whatever. I bet if we take her to a vet right before he passes out, he’ll tell us she’s obese,” Shego remarked.

“Shego, leave Cali alone,” Kim mildly scolded her. She knew Shego was only teasing, but she did not want Cali’s self-esteem hurt. After all, they had a pet that understood English.

“What? She’s plump,” Shego argued.

“You’re going to hurt her feelings,” Kim replied. Cali looked up and nodded.

Emerald eyes rolled before a green hand dropped a little more chicken, appeasing the slightly offended feline. Shego also did not bother to point out that food calmed the cat, which was why Cali bordered on fat now. Once dinner was done, Bonnie showed off her new outfits, going as far as modeling them for her girlfriends. Of course, after Bonnie did it, she and Shego forced Kim to do it since the redhead got new clothes out of the shopping spree too.

“You guys are evil,” Kim groaned, having long outgrown the urge to model anything, even the latest expensive fashion.

“Doy!” both Bonnie and Shego replied with smirks that confirmed that their response. Bonnie had another evil surprised, too. Shego was next.

-*-(New day)-*-

Bonnie was finishing up some work, preparing to go to lunch, when she was surprised by a knock on her door. She craned an eyebrow to the noise and hoped it was not someone coming to pass on more work to her. While she liked being busy, she was only human and there was only so much that she could handle. _Although, it’s nice to see they know I’m competent now_. Any work passed to her actually had to do with her job and not just grunt work anymore.

“Yes, come in,” Bonnie called to the door.

The lawyer was stunned when Isabel stepped into the room. Bonnie could only wonder what her lover’s mother wanted with her now. She considered Isabel might have just been in the building to visit her own attorney and was stopping by to say hi or something of that nature.

“Hello, Bonnie dear,” Isabel said, sporting a small smile.

“Hi, Isabel. Is there something I can do for you?” Bonnie asked.

“I need company for lunch. I would like that company to be you,” Isabel answered.

Bonnie’s eyebrow arched. “Me?” she squeaked.

“Yes, Bonnie. Let’s go to lunch. Unless you already have plans,” Isabel commented.

“Actually, I usually have lunch with Kim and Shego. You could join us,” Bonnie proposed.

Isabel smiled. “All right. I like that idea.”

The pair set off to meet Shego and Kim at their usual café. Kim smiled when she saw Bonnie and Isabel while Shego’s smile fell right off of her face when she saw her mother walking side by side with Bonnie. Bonnie greeted her girlfriends with light kisses on the lips. Isabel kissed Kim and Shego on the cheek.

“Mommy, what the hell are you doing here?” Shego hissed as her mother took a seat in between her and Bonnie.

“I was in your charming girlfriend’s firm today and stopped by to see if she wished to have lunch with me. She invited me out with you all since you seem to have a standing lunch date,” Isabel explained.

“Yeah, a lunch _date_. Between the three of us.” Shego motioned to them with her finger in a circular motion. “Nobody wants you around,” she snarled harshly, her painted lip curling into a hard scowl.

“Shego!” Kim and Bonnie scolded their lover.

“What? She’s interrupting our time together,” Shego pointed out while motioning to her mother.

“Shego, it’s not like she’s going to be following us around on any other dates. She’s just here now because she was in the neighborhood and she wants to spend time with us. That’s a good thing,” Kim argued.

A loud scoff escaped Shego’s mouth. “How so?”

“Some parents don’t like being with their children…” Bonnie reminded her lover.

Shego flinched and a vein bulged in her neck. She wanted to say something about her mother’s presence, but she really did not want to upset Bonnie. So, she sat back and kept her mouth shut, not even bothering to glare at her mother as she typically would.

Isabel smiled a little. It was so cute to see her firefly in love and being considerate of others’ feelings. _Ah, my little girl’s grown up_.

“So, Isabel, what were you doing around Bonnie’s job?” Kim asked after their orders were taken.

“I just had to check on a few things,” Isabel answered.

“What the hell, Mommy? You’re spending a lot of time in this part of the country. You don’t even live around here,” Shego pointed out with a frown. “You’re just wasting money and crap.”

“I’m not wasting money. Your father and I have been staying at the house in Upperton. The twins are thinking about moving there for a little while and your father wants to be close by, so they can all kill themselves together,” Isabel remarked blandly, rolling her eyes at the last bit.

“You mean you all are going to live within a drive of me?” Shego inquired through gritted teeth. It was a fate worse than death.

“Yup, although you know you’re never far from your father,” Isabel replied.

“Did you put them up to that? Why not just jab hot pins in my eyes while you’re at it?” Shego asked, throwing up her hands.

“Of course not. They had such a good time working at your school and they keep talking about opening their own. Of course, they’ll get bored with it a few weeks in, at the most. It’ll be too much work without instant gratification. With their attention spans, they’ll probably forget about it altogether in a couple of months and wander off to some mountains or something,” Isabel explained and she waved the whole matter off.

Shego could not call her mother a liar on that one. The conversation went pretty smoothly from then on, especially once they had food in front of them. Shego did have to be reprimanded a second time after Kim told Isabel about the tournament and Isabel offered to help.

“We don’t need your fucking help,” Shego declared, glaring at her mother even worse than before.

“Shego!” Kim and Bonnie chimed in.

“We don’t!” the eldest of the trio insisted.

“It’s not about needing. It’s just an offer. It’s not like you’re the only martial artist in this family, firefly. This is something we would like to be a part of and support you in. All of you,” Isabel said.

Shego growled and was about to tell her mother off, but her girlfriends cut in. Kim was predictably thankful and gracious about the offer, making a promise to brainstorm on something the Go family could do at the tournament. Bonnie was just as gracious, even though she really did not have much to do for the tournament, which got Isabel’s attention.

“Bonnie, I thought Shego and Kim were teaching you self-defense,” Isabel said. Shego glared at her mother for a reason none of them knew, except Shego liked glaring at her mother.

“They are,” Bonnie assured her. She thought they were doing wonderful jobs, too, considering the fact that she avoided being raped a week ago.

“Then they should work in a chance for you to display what you’ve learned,” Isabel suggested.

“You’re right! Baby, you have to do a routine for us!” Kim declared with a grin. Shego almost smiled, but she caught herself.

“I don’t know…” Bonnie hesitated, teal eyes showing quite a bit of trepidation.

“What’s not to know? I’m sure they’ve taught you well. All you need to do is work on a routine. I could help with that. I’m the one who taught this cranky one over here.” Isabel motioned to her daughter with a nonchalant sweep of her hand.

“Hey!” Shego barked and glowered even harder at her mother.

Isabel shrugged. “What? It’s true.”

“Bonnie, I have to tell you, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. There are people who would kill to be in your shoes. Hell, Yori probably will kill you when she finds out that you’re being taught by Isabel,” Kim informed the lawyer.

“What do you mean?” Bonnie asked with a slightly furrowed brow.

“I mean, Yori is a closet-fan-girl for Isabel. You should’ve seen the way she jumped up and down just when she found out that Isabel taught out our school for a little while. She literally jumped up and down like a little kid. Shego’s been scared to mention Isabel is her mother ever since then,” Kim answered with a laugh.

“I’m not scared! I just hate it when people know who I’m related to, especially this cow,” Shego snorted while motioning sharply to her mother.

Bonnie and Kim flinched, but Isabel did not even react. The youngest pair could not understand the mother and daughter, even now. There was just something about the way Shego spoke to Isabel that made them a little uneasy, even though Isabel did not seem to care. It was always like they were witnessing a family fight, even though they knew they were not.

“Guys, I have to go,” Bonnie said as she glanced down at her watch. She was due back at work in less than ten minutes. They had finished their food not too long ago and were now just enjoying each other’s company.

“Bye, sweetheart,” Kim said and the trio exchanged kisses.

“Bonnie, I’ll call you to set up a time for us to start making a routine,” Isabel informed the retreating attorney.

“Sounds good,” Bonnie replied before disappearing out of the restaurant.

“Mommy,” Shego growled at her mother like a demented wolf.

“What? Firefly, it’s not like I stole your student. I’m just going to help her develop a routine to showcase your teaching skills. You can’t do it since I’m sure you’re going to be helping Kimmie plan this thing. So, relax,” Isabel replied nonchalantly, smiling just a little. The twinkle in her eye said she obviously knew Shego was _not_ going to helping plan anything.

“That’s not the point! You just wormed your way into this real easy, didn’t you? We don’t need or want be a part of this tournament,” Shego huffed.

Isabel’s smile was absolutely wicked and it was all too clear where Shego got her mean streak from. “Too late.”

Shego was so close to reaching over the table and snatching her mother up by the collar that she was trembling. Kim leaned over and placed a comforting hand on her lover’s thigh. Shego calmed down almost immediately, which made Kim smile. It was nice to know the effect she had on the former thief.

“No more of this helping bullshit,” Shego ordered her mother.

“Fine, I won’t do it again,” Isabel promised, looking so innocent they would not be surprised if a halo appeared over her head. Her daughter knew that was beyond a lie.

“No, no, no. This isn’t about you not doing ‘it’ again. This is about you not helping anymore. I don’t want you helping. This isn’t your deal and I don’t want people mistaking Kim’s hard work for some shit you did,” Shego commanded, pointing viciously at her mother.

Isabel nodded, finally seeing the problem her daughter had with her touching anything in the tournament. Isabel silently admitted she preferred Shego’s hostility when it came to Kim and Bonnie much more than when it came to Kane, or just the fact that both she and her daughter had attitude problems. Shego had found something precious in her life she wanted to fight for and did not care who the opponent was. Shego wanted to make sure those precious to her always got what they deserved. Isabel smiled.

“I’m proud of you, firefly,” Isabel stated.

Shego blinked hard and was dumbstruck for more seconds than she liked. Her recovery was a harsh, “Fuck you, Mommy.” Isabel only smiled more.

-8-8-8-8-

“Shego, why are you so hard on your mom?” Bonnie asked as the trio moved about the apartment. Bonnie was in the kitchen, putting tuna and water into Cali’s bowls. Making sure those things were filled insured that the cat would stay off of the counter and out of the cabinets. Now, they would not mind if only Cali did not insist on remaining in her cat form while trying to get into the cabinets.

“Because she’s an annoying, busybody bitch,” Shego answered as if it was obvious while stretching out on the sofa.

“She’s just trying to help,” Kim argued from the computer desk, her eyes glued to the screen.

“Yeah, she’ll just be trying to help and then you’ll find that every fucking magazine in the country is reporting on ‘Isabel Go’s exceptionally talented tournament.’ We don’t need that shit, especially when you’re already busting your ass to make this thing happen,” Shego answered.

Kim could not argue that really. She knew Isabel would not purposely take credit of things, but she did not count out the possibility of it happening. The press could mistakenly think it was all Isabel’s show. She was the most famous martial artist out of all of them, after all. Now, even though Kim liked Isabel and Yori was a fan-girl of Isabel, they were not ones that wanted credit to go where it was not due.

“Beyond that, though, sweetie. You seem pretty blessed in the parent department, yet you’re always mean and evil toward your mother,” Bonnie pointed out. She would love to have parents like Shego’s. Hell, to have parents like Kim’s. Even to just have parents who gave a shit about her in general. She could only imagine what it was like to come from a loving family and she sometimes felt envious when she saw her lovers with their families.

Shego frowned deeply. She was about snap, but then remembered Bonnie’s circumstances. She sighed and scratched the bridge of her nose, thinking about how to respond. She never had to rationalize her behavior toward her mother, not even to herself. It always just came natural.

“She just gets on my nerves. She’s not as sweet and nice as you think she is. She’s a manipulative gold-digger, who fucks up a lot of things, especially in our family,” Shego answered soundly, feeling that was a good response. In fact, she mentally patted herself on the back for it.

“You don’t believe that,” Bonnie said as Cali charged in from only-the-cat-knew-where. Cali paused in her quest for tuna for just a moment to rub her cheek into Bonnie’s calf as a greeting and earned a little scratch behind her ear. She then went on to devour her late lunch while Bonnie turned her attention completely back to Shego.

“Uh, yeah, I do. What makes you think I don’t? I grew up with this woman. I know how the hell she is,” Shego countered.

“Shego, she’s your mother. You’re so similar to her. You know deep down you not only love her, but you like her,” Kim remarked.

Shego scoffed. “Like hell. Are you getting high over there or something, Possible? I don’t like that woman, not one tiny bit. She needs to go take a long walk off a short cliff.”

“So, like a ten-foot-high cliff?” Kim chuckled.

“Shut up over there! You know what I mean. She should go jump in front of a train or something,” Shego replied.

“So that she can leave your daddy alone?” Bonnie teased, eyes dancing with delighted mischief, even though Shego was not looking at her.

“Fuck you, Rockwaller,” Shego said. She had to bite her tongue to hold everything else at bay. She could tease and taunt Bonnie, of course, but she knew the things that she was about to say would have been way over the line.

“You do, almost every single night, so get a new line, Sheshona,” Bonnie rebutted with a smirk.

“Don’t make me get off this couch, Bon-bon!” And just like that, it was on.

Kim sat back and listened to her lovers go back and forth with insults and petty names. Nothing got out of hand, so Kim stayed right where she was, searching for items they would need for the upcoming tournament. She wrote down things, planning to run them by Yori in the morning. She and Yori took Shego seriously about planning the whole thing and they loved every second of it. 

“Hey, Cali,” Kim said as the cat came out of the blue and leaped into her lap. Cali made herself comfortable, rubbing her head against Kim’s arm with the hope that she would get petted. Kim took the hint. “You want to help me pick out medal and ribbon designs to give to the students in the tournament?” the redhead asked.

The feline purred as a response and turned her attention to the computer screen. Being a mutant, Cali had the good fortune of being able to see in color, even when in her feline form. Although her humans were starting to forget that she even had a humanoid form. She obviously preferred being a cat because they had not seen her strutting around in her other form since Kim’s mother had given her a clean bill of health. She did everything in her cat form, even silly things that would be much easier for her to pull off if she just transformed.

“What do you think of these?” Kim asked. Cali blinked and then shook her head in disagreement. It was these sorts of things that reminded the trio that their pet was not normal and kept them from ever thinking that Cali was just a regular house cat, but she was their pet and that was enough for all of them. 

-*-(Next day)-*-

“All right, so these were the things I pulled to give as prizes. I also got pictures of some of things I thought you would like,” Kim told Yori as they both spread out a collection of papers on the floor of Kim’s classroom. The redhead’s room was larger than Yori’s since she had more students… and little kids seemed to need a lot of space. Kim also had things saved on her Kimmunicator to show Yori. 

“I’ve got things to give out to each person that participates. This is going to be expensive, Kim. Are you sure we can afford it?” Yori asked, eyebrows curled up in some concern. She would love for them to be able to do a huge tournament, but she knew what it was like when money was tight.

“Shego’s only thing is to help with the money and to do that she gave me a debit card and said ‘go nuts and don’t ask me for nothing else to do with this shit.’ Direct quote,” Kim remarked with an amused smile.

Yori nodded. “I could guess that much. Shego has a lot of money, yes?”

“More than enough, but I assume the card had a budget. And, even if it doesn’t, I’d like to return some money to Shego, but I still think we can do something amazing. So, we can make this the best tournament ever. I mean, for a lot of our students, this is the first tournament they’ll ever be in. Remember what kind of school we have, after all.”

Yori nodded. Even though the school was a little more popular than when it first opened, they still taught the same type of students as always. Hell, Yori had watched Kim and Shego turn away more experienced martial artists, for some reason favoring riff-raff, as most people would look at their students. Despite all of that, they all did a good job teaching and got a little something good from almost all of their students. It was a pleasant environment and they were all happy with what was going on.

“Did you find a place to hold it?” Yori asked.

“I did find a hall. It’s…” Kim’s eyes wandered the floor for the paper. “Here.” She grabbed the paper, a pamphlet showing the place off, and presented it to Yori. “I have the website, too, if you want to see it.”

Yori nodded and Kim quickly brought up the website. It was not a gym, but also not really a hall. They would have to do a lot of work to make presentable for a tournament, but the atmosphere seemed right. It seemed just enough to inspire awe without seeming pretentious.

Dark eyes lit up. “Great. It looks wonderful. I hope you have ideas on how to transform it, though.”

Kim nodded. “A few. I wrote them down for you to look over and see what you like.” She slid a few papers over to Yori. Thankfully, they were extremely organized, or they would both worry about losing so much loose paper.

Yori glanced down at the papers. “I found some people to cater. Ron-kun almost killed me when he found out I was looking at other chefs. His heart was so broken, he volunteered.”

“I thought you said he was too busy,” Kim said, scrunching up her face a little.

“He is! He just could not stand that someone else might cook for an event I am planning. He wanted to be in this in some way, so he volunteered for this. He might volunteer for something else knowing him. So, now I will just ask him whenever we come across something he would be perfect for instead of assuming it would be too much for him to handle.”

“Funny, Ron used to be like Shego. He’d do the minimum work. Now, he’s all grown up and offering to help,” Kim teased, an amused smile gracing her features.

Yori playfully swatted at the hero. “Stop that. Ron-kun is great. He offers plenty.”

Kim laughed. “I’m sure he does. That’s what I’m saying!”

“You are not saying it in a sincere manner,” the ninja commented with a small smile of her own.

Kim conceded that point, especially since Yori was quite right. The Ron that Kim had grown up with was someone who would slack off all responsibilities if possible. Monique was still plotting her revenge just from his actions when they had been science partners in high school so many years ago. Ron was actually aware of that and watched his back whenever Monique was around. He was not that person anymore, though, and it was nice he was mature and accepted more responsibility. She just hoped he did not bite off more than he could chew and end up choking.

“Do you think that we could allow Ron to judge since Shego does not wish to do anything?” Yori asked.

“Shego is judging. She’s just acting like a slug right now to get out of the real work. She’s not going to let anyone decide her students rankings except for her,” Kim pointed out.

The ninja nodded. That made a lot of sense. She knew she did not want her students judged by anyone except for her. No one knew her students like she did, and she suspected it was the same with her two colleagues. They would be the best to tell the progress of each student.

“Are we going to let the students wear whatever they want or are they going to have uniforms?” Yori asked while turning to her own notepad, which was worn and well-used from just a week of planning.

“Hmm… I think we should go for uniforms, but then again, we’re really becoming known as an unconventional school. We like that, so maybe we should stick with that and let them show up in whatever they want,” Kim considered with a finger posed against her chin. 

Yori thought about it. She noticed almost the moment she arrived at the school the strange atmosphere Kim and Shego built. Between Shego’s slacker students and Kim’s hyperactive kids, most people expected a zoo or a crack house when they came into the place. Watching the students before class started, most people would have assumed the same and been almost right. When classes started though, all of the students were ready for business and they did not take any nonsense… unless a teacher they were attracted to happened by. But, it worked. The unconventional school, like their unconventional teachers, worked.

“I think letting them come in whatever they want would be a good thing. We should just specify things that would not be appropriate. After all, you know at least one of Shego’s students would show up topless,” Yori commented and Kim broke out laughing.

Kim slapped her knee. “You’re right! And it would be our luck, they set it up in advance and a bunch of them would come without tops, asking what’s wrong!” 

Yori started laughing as well. “Yeah, they definitely would do something like that. Shego’s students are wild much of the time.”

“Right, just like her, which we know. So, we’ll just make a list of things that would be inappropriate and remind them that there will be kids and parents there. I guess we’ll tell them they can’t come in or participate in the tournament if they dress like they’re nuts,” Kim said. “On the reverse side, don’t let your guys wear their ninja gear.”

“What? Why not!” Yori huffed. Her students tended to show up in what they dubbed “ninja gear,” but was generally black or dark blue clothing. It was not gis, but it was the closest thing anyone had to a uniform.

“Because we’d look weird. My students and Shego’s students would be wearing whatever they want and then your kids come in uniforms. Plus, it just makes it look like me and Shego don’t care,” the hero explained.

Yori conceded that point. “I am sure everyone knows you care, though.”

“This is true, but then again, if we tell them to wear what they want, your students are probably going to show up in their uniforms anyway.”

“They are not truly uniforms, you know,” Yori felt the need to point out. 

“I know, but a black tank top and matching pants definitely look more like a uniform than my kids with their Elmo shirts and shorts.”

Shrugging, Yori nodded. That was true enough. “We are going to sell tickets, correct?” 

“Yes, we’ll sell some tickets. Hopefully, people will buy them. Nothing too expensive, but enough to help raise some money for the cost of this thing. We’ll do a raffle, too, with the hopes that it’ll get people in. Of course, for the kids and their families, it’ll be free. Maybe we should hand them some tickets and see if they can sell a few to neighbors that want to support them.”

“Hey! People are here!” Shego’s voice called from downstairs.

The bark ended their early morning planning session. Both teachers quickly gathered up their things before any of Kim’s little whirlwinds raced upstairs. They had learned the hard way that four-year-olds had bad brakes, and thus can easily shred any paper as they tried to stop running.

“Lunchtime?” Yori proposed, referring to their planning.

“That sounds good. I’ll let Shego and Bonnie know,” Kim replied. 

“All right. I will call Ron-kun and request that he bring lunch here for us. It would be his honor,” Yori remarked, which earned a deep laugh from Kim.

The ninja then disappeared downstairs, rushing past Shego to go to her own classroom and get ready before her students showed up. Shego did not say anything, knowing Yori and Kim had been planning the tournament. She had not even bothered to check and see how much progress they made. As long as all they needed from her was money, everything was fine as far as she was concerned. 

The day went on as usual. Shego found herself without lunch dates by noon. Kim was staying behind to work on the tournament planning and Bonnie was going to work out with Isabel. Shego volunteered to go, too, but Bonnie told her that she did not have to. Bonnie just did not want to have to watch the mother/daughter train-wreck that was Shego’s relationship with her mother.

“ _What’s left to do?”_ Shego wondered aloud, looking around her empty class. She found herself going upstairs to hang out in the apartment. It was the best that she could think of. 

Cali rushed the door when it opened. Shego chuckled when she saw the cat charge over. For a moment, she thought it was silly for Cali to run to the door like a guard dog would, but then she remembered Cali was no ordinary feline.

“Hey, fat-cat. You think you’re scaring away any burglars by running over here like the fat-cat you are?” Shego teased. 

Cali hissed, expressing her offensive to those words. She was not so offended that she ran off, though. Shego knew that meant the cat wanted something. Emerald eyes rolled.

“You know, if you want water or food, you need to stop being a begging, lazy fat-ass about things,” Shego said. 

Cali glared at her, eyes conveying that in her mind she was saying _that’s the pot calling the kettle black_. The two went to the kitchen where Shego saw Cali had gone through all of her water. Shego glanced at the feline.

“How the fuck do you drink that much water that quickly? I don’t even want to know what the hell you do here when you’re alone,” Shego said while filling up the water bowl for the cat. Cali attacked the liquid as soon as it was on the floor. “You’d think you were dying of thirst.”

Cali shrugged, as best a little cat could, and then went back to her water. Shego left the cat to her drink. She went right to her pinball machine. She started playing and was suddenly hit with a memory of being in pinball tournaments with her father and little brothers. They used to tear up the pinball machines in their basement, which was where she got the habit.

“I bet Daddy still has them,” Shego commented to the air, a fond smile tugging at her lips. Both of her parents were packrats when it came to things that reminded them of their children… and that had her thinking of her mother, which wiped the smile right off of her face. “She better not work Bonnie too hard…” she growled.

-8-8-8-8-

Isabel watched Bonnie slowly go through just the first few katas they worked out for her routine. A phone going off disturbed them; the ringtone was “Bad to the Bone.” Isabel laughed, having a good guess as to who was calling. She grabbed the phone since it was on the bench next to her; they were at one of her favorite gyms where everyone knew to leave her the hell alone.

“Hello, firefly,” Isabel said, smiling as she spoke. She was aware her daughter could always hear the smile in her voice.

“Mommy, what the hell are you doing answering Bonnie’s phone? Where’s she? What did you do?” Shego demanded, sounding much too furious for her own good. 

“I haven’t done anything yet. We only just started our workout. Do you think I planned to kill her? Now, you know I only drink virgin blood,” Isabel remarked, earning a chuckle from the lawyer next to her.

“Ha, ha,” Shego said dryly. “Where is she then?” 

“Calm down. She’s right here. You shouldn’t disturb her, though. We haven’t gotten too far into this and she needs to focus on this. You don’t want her to perform at your tournament and mess up, do you?” Isabel countered and she gave Bonnie a wink. Bonnie snickered a little.

“Shut up. I just want to make sure you’re not fucking torturing her or something,” Shego snarled. 

“I’m not, but if you want to hear her say it, I’ll put her on. Just remember that if she messes up her routine it’s because you’re being a pain in the ass,” Isabel remarked in her usual tone of voice.

“Mommy, don’t fucking tell me what to do with my girlfriend. Now, put her on the fucking phone.”

Isabel rolled her eyes and handed the phone to Bonnie. The lawyer stopped moving and paused to catch her breath for a second. She then turned her attention to the phone. 

“Hey, sweetness. What’s going on?” Bonnie asked.

“I just wanted to check on you and make sure everything’s all right. My mother can be a real bitch when it comes to martial arts. She’s not riding your ass too hard, is she?” Shego countered.

“No, she’s not doing anything like that. It’s been a rather tame session really. What’s going on with you? Kimmie said she wasn’t going to lunch. Are you helping her plan the tournament?” 

Shego blew out a raspberry to that. “No. Too much fucking work. Do you know how much work that is?”

Bonnie smiled and shook her head. “You’re so lazy, sweetheart. Find some way to occupy your time. You don’t have to check on me. Your mom is being very nice,” she assured her lover. 

“She’ll never believe that,” Isabel muttered.

Shego grunted, but after a couple of “I love yous” the call was disconnected and Bonnie went back to her practice. Isabel smiled. 

“We’ll work on something to dazzle Shego. Well, both Shego and Kim, all right?” Isabel promised. They had laid some good groundwork for her to mold Bonnie with.

Bonnie nodded. “I hope so. After all, if this keeps up, Shego’s going to have a heart attack by the end of the week. It should at least be worth it.” 

Isabel chuckled. “If not this, then the routine we come up with should definitely do the job.”

“I do believe the tournament is rated PG-13, and that’s only for violence,” Bonnie joked. Isabel laughed even more. 

-8-8-8-8-

Shego went back to her pinball game once she got off the phone with Bonnie. She quickly became bored with it, though, and went to see what was on television. Nothing was on most channels as expected and without her lovers to make fun of things with her, she could not stomach any television at the moment. By the time two rolled around, she could not be happier.

“I’m actually glad to go to work. What the hell is that about?” Shego shook her head as she made her way downstairs. 

The next few days went in the same manner, much to Shego’s dismay. She was left without any lunch dates, which made her very cranky in class. After a while, her students knew to steer clear of her and not ask her any questions… even if they needed clarification on a move. They started helping each other more just to make sure they did not have to speak to Shego for any reason.

Shego did not notice her students avoiding her. She did not want to be bothered with them beyond necessary class time anyway, so really, they were doing her a favor. Her mind was preoccupied with the source of her frustration – her lovers’ company. She just wanted to be around them. Was that too much to ask?

Shego had been able to check her attitude when it came to her lovers… so far. Mostly because she was just so happy to see them whenever she did. Each day, Kim and Bonnie were finishing progressively later with their extracurricular activities. Kim and Yori were trying to set things up so that the tournament could happen as soon as possible. Bonnie was working on her routine, making sure to be ready when Kim and Yori announced a date for the tournament. Shego was left with nothing to do, except scare her students and make sure Cali knew she was fat and lazy.

-8-8-8-8-

“Princess,” Shego called from her space on the couch. She was lounging around without the television on yet because she had other things on her mind rather than finding something to watch.

“Yeah?” Kim yelled back from the bathroom. She was trying to take a shower, but Shego seemed more interested in playing twenty questions. Thanks to that, Kim had started the water ten minutes ago and still had not been able to get in.

“Did you call my Duchess?” Shego asked. 

“Bonnie said she might be a little late.”

A frown cut across Shego’s face. “Why?” 

“I didn’t ask all of that,” the hero admitted. She assumed Bonnie was busy with her routine and that was good enough for her.

“Why the hell not? She could get hurt while she’s out there!” Shego barked.

The redhead was tempted to point out Shego could easily call Bonnie to find out what was keeping the lawyer, but the last couple of times Shego called, her mother picked up. Isabel seemed to be Shego’s kryptonite when it came to calling now. The former thief waited for reports on Bonnie from Kim now. 

“Shego, she’s with your mother. I doubt anything’s going to happen to her,” Kim replied, voice very near whiny. She just wanted to take a shower! She was sweaty and worn from the day. Her body screamed for the stream of hot water that her lover just was not allotting her at the moment.

“You say that now and who knows what could happen! My mother isn’t a freaking god! Something could happen to both of them,” Shego argued.

“Shego, are you really worried about your mommy?” Kim hummed. She was curious, but she was also being a little mean. She knew that question would get her lover to stop asking questions and she could get into the shower. 

“The hell I am!” Shego predictably roared.

With that, all of the inquiries halted and Kim was able to take a shower. By the time she got out, Bonnie was not in. She did not think anything of it, knowing Bonnie was with Isabel. She flopped down on the couch and laid down in Shego’s lap.

“What’re we watching?” Kim asked, eyes focusing ahead of her. The television was on, but the program playing was not something she recognized and she doubted that her lover was actually watching it. 

“Tell me where my Duchess is, Princess,” Shego stated.

Kim sighed. “I don’t know. I just know she’s with your mother. Stop worrying, Shego.” 

“Call her,” the older woman ordered.

Kim complied, if only to set Shego at ease. “Hey, baby, where’re you?” she asked into the phone. 

Shego watched as Kim nodded and muttered some “uh-huhs” into the receiver. She waited quietly as Kim disconnected the call and replaced the phone on the base. The redhead then made herself comfortable again.

“Well?” Shego huffed. 

“She’ll be home soon. Isabel took her out to dinner after they finished their thing at the gym.”

Shego tilted her head, much like a confused puppy. “Excuse me? My mother took Bonnie out to dinner?” she demanded. 

“Is there a problem with that?” Kim asked, even though the answer was obvious. Why it was a problem was not so obvious. It was not like Isabel was trying to steal Bonnie.

“Why the fuck is my mother doing so much shit with Bonnie? What the fuck?” Shego growled. 

“Shego, I’m not your mother, so I don’t really know. Bonnie sounded like she was having fun. It’s good that she’s having a good time and feeling some love after everything that’s happened.”

“We love her!” Shego roared. 

“I know we do. Shego, calm down. Your mom’s not going to hurt or steal Bonnie.” Or whatever the hell Shego thought was going to happen. Kim really was not sure why the hell Shego was so hostile. She did not understand what Shego thought her mother was going to do. It was not like Isabel was out to fuck Bonnie, which was usually the reason Shego became completely irrational. So, what the hell?

“She’s spending too much time with Bonnie and something could happen to Bonnie. I don’t want my Duchess to get hurt,” Shego huffed. 

“Shego, you know your mother isn’t going to let anything happen to Bonnie. She’s just as fond of Bonnie as my mother is. Just relax. Bonnie said she’ll be here soon and you won’t have to worry.”

“Yeah, until she goes out with my fucking mother again.” 

Kim sighed, not sure what else to do, so she just caressed Shego’s thigh. Shego visibly relaxed, but not completely. A tiny bend between her eyebrows remained. A little while later, they heard the keys in the door and the tension shot right through Shego again. 

“Loves, I’m home!” Bonnie announced with a rather happy tone. She was not surprised that Cali was the first one to the door. The fat cat was moving her ass to greet her humans at the door lately. They always suspected it was because she wanted something. 

“Hey, baby!” Kim replied, coming in second for being there. Shego brought up the rear and did not look quite as happy as the cat and redhead.

“Where the hell have you been?” Shego demanded while Kim was busying giving their girlfriend a hug and a kiss.

Bonnie jumped in Kim’s arms because of the outburst from the former villainess. The younger pair turned to their lover, who did not seem to think that she did anything strange. They were stunned to see the anger in her emerald eyes.

“Shego, calm down!” Kim commanded. She hoped that when Bonnie was home, she would not have to bother with an anxious Shego, but it seemed that was not meant to be.

“Something could’ve happened to you out there bugging out with my fucking mother! You know that woman is out of her fucking mind and she has fucking enemies! They could get you by mistake!” Shego proclaimed, a snarl tugging at her lip.

“Shego, will you calm down! Nothing happened to her! She was just out having a good time!” Kim argued. If Shego was going to get like this every time Bonnie was late, then they might have to have her medicated. 

“There’s no reason for her to be out having a fucking good time with my goddamn mother! Something could happen! You need to be home!” Shego growled while reaching out to grab Bonnie. Kim stepped in the way.

“Shego, really, calm down,” the redhead ordered in a stern tone with a hard glare in her olive eyes.

Shego’s mind seemed to click. She looked down at her hand and then at Kim, who was frowning as if Shego was her enemy again. Her eyes then went to Bonnie, who looked so perplexed by what was happening. 

“Shit…” Shego hissed, dropping her hand. She glanced away for a long moment and ran her hand through her hair, trying to get herself together.

“Are you calm now?” Kim asked.

“I think so. I’m sorry. I’m bugging the fuck out,” Shego commented, shaking her head. She could not figure out why either. Something about the whole situation with Bonnie and her mother just rubbed her the wrong way.

“It’s okay. We know you do it because you care,” Kim replied, reaching out to caress the former villainess’ arm. Shego’s shoulders slumped and she ran a trembling hand through her hair.

“I don’t know what the hell is wrong with me. I guess I just worry about you, Duchess… especially after what almost happened…” Shego muttered, shaking her head again like she was trying to clear her mind.

“It’s okay, love. I know you’re worried. You don’t have to take it so hard, though. I was with your mother and you guys have trained me well enough to get out of trouble apparently. It was scary, but I got out of it. I don’t want you to worry so much that you drive yourself crazy,” Bonnie said and she moved to embrace Shego. 

Shego sighed and accepted the hug. Everything seemed to be fine after that. Bonnie went to take a shower. They were able to relax on the sofa afterwards and had enough time for one movie. Cali joined them, being on the top of their pile; it was becoming her spot as much as Shego’s spot was at the bottom of the pile.

After the movie, they went bed. Cali was allowed to sleep in the bed that night since the ladies were all worn out thanks to their busy days, or days fretting in Shego’s case. Bonnie made a crack about Cali not being able to sleep in the bed if she kept gaining weight since Cali liked sleeping on her humans’ stomachs and chests, making it hard to breathe. Cali hissed and thumped Bonnie with her tail.

“Stop complaining. You’re fucking fat,” Shego stated, plucking Cali in the side.

“Leave her alone. Cali is not fat,” Kim commented. She would know, too, since Cali was currently resting on her hip. She brought a hand up to stroke the feline’s back.

There were two disagreeing scoffs from the bed. Not another word was said and everyone fell asleep around the same time. They woke up to start their cycles all over again, but with Shego trying to relax some.

-8-8-8-8-

Shego was bored, which explained why she was throwing a handball against the wall of the main office of the school. It was lunchtime and she had nothing to do with her life. Kim was working with Yori again and Bonnie with Isabel again.

“Why the hell is my Duchess with Mommy every fucking day?” Shego complained to the air. “I don’t buy this shit. I want to spend time with my fucking girlfriend and that’s just what I’m going to do. Mommy can find her own fucking girlfriend.”

Shego reached over to the desk and grabbed her cell phone. She pressed one button to dial for Bonnie. She was determined to stay on the phone, even if her damned annoying mother picked up. She had a few things that she wanted to say, no matter what.

“Yes, firefly?” Isabel answered Bonnie’s phone. 

“Goddamn it, Mommy, you’re not Bonnie’s secretary. Put her on the fucking phone,” Shego commanded.

“Calm down, Shego. Bonnie said you’ve been uptight lately.”

“Did she? What the hell else are you two talking about behind my back?” Shego demanded, eyes blazing. 

“Wow, you are being a crazy woman,” Isabel commented, sounding just a little shocked. Bonnie had told her a little about how Shego behavior, but she considered Bonnie might have been blowing things out of proportion. Hearing Shego on the phone right now made her think Bonnie might have been being kind about her words.

“Where the hell is Bonnie? Put my Duchess on the fucking phone right now.” 

There was a pause before Bonnie’s voice came through. “Shego, yes?”

“Hey, Duchess. Let’s have lunch right now,” Shego suggested, hopeful smile tearing her face up. 

“Shego, you know I can’t. I’m working on my routine. I want it to be perfect for the tournament,” Bonnie pointed out, grinning as she spoke. She was hardly able to contain her excitement, desiring nothing more than to put on a good show, and make her girlfriends proud of her. Not to mention, she was amazed at some of the things she could do. Kim and Shego would love it when they saw!

“You don’t need to do it for the whole damn time every damn day.”

“Shego, I want this to go right, so I need to practice. I’m practicing.” 

“You don’t need my mother there to practice,” Shego argued.

“She’s helping.” 

“She doesn’t need to help every damn moment.”

“Shego, I need to go,” Bonnie said. 

“Wait—!”

“I’ll talk to you later at home.” 

Before Shego could say anything else, Bonnie disconnected the call. Shego growled and threw her phone against the wall. The phone did not break, mostly because it was specially made for Shego with her temper and plasma.

“Bitch!” Shego hollered, not sure whom she meant. 

She ripped herself from her seat and stormed out of the office. She was not sure where she was going or what she was going to do with herself. She marched to the basement to their workout room, which she was grateful was finally finished. She moved from machine to machine, but did not stay on any one of them for more than a minute.

“To hell with this,” she muttered to the air.

She rushed back upstairs to the second floor. She found Kim, Yori, and Ron sitting on the floor with papers spread out around them. It looked like they were planning an invasion from the intense looks on their faces and all of the documents. For a moment, Shego allowed the image of the trio invading a country play in her mind, which brought a brief smile to her face. 

“Hey, what’re you three up to?” Shego asked, calling attention to herself. Three heads snapped in her direction, as if she pressed a button to make them all turn at the same time.

“We’re just planning out the tournament,” Kim answered, as if it were no big deal.

“As was the agreement,” Yori added in. Shego had never interrupted one of the sessions before, so she thought Shego might have had a change of heart, so she wanted to remind Shego that they had already agreed on everything. There was no turning back now. 

“We’ve pretty far along. I think if we work this right, we could have the tournament in about two weeks. That should be enough time for the kids to tell whoever they want and people to work out if they can go or not,” Kim explained.

“That’s cool,” Shego said, nodding along with her words. They really had put a lot of work into this and it was cool.

“It is cool! You should see everything they worked out!” Ron grabbed an arm full of papers, like he planned to show them to Shego. Instead, he dropped most of them because of the hastily manner in which he collected them. He made a face, realizing he would have to put everything back in order now. 

“This tournament is going to be a work of art,” Yori boasted with a proud smile.

“Yeah, we definitely have something good going,” Kim concurred with a bright grin.

“That’s nice. Maybe I could… help… a little…” Shego offered, hesitantly because she knew just how odd the request had to seem. She had spent so much bemoaning everything and they all knew that she was lazy by nature.

The working trio could have sworn they heard the sound of brakes shrieking somewhere in the distance. _Shego wants to help?_ Well, then surely the world was also coming to an end. Ron almost suggested they check the sky for the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse, but had a feeling that joke would not go over well with Shego right now.

The three all looked at each other and Shego could have sworn they were communicating telepathically. They came to similar conclusions, so she might have been right to some extent. Kim thought it was a trap, a way for Shego to say they pulled her in for more work than she signed up for and therefore back out of doing anything else. Yori and Ron thought it was a trick for Shego to pull the plug on the whole thing after saying they roped her in for work when it was agreed she was just going to pay for it. After all, Yori remembered how against the tournament Shego was and Ron knew about it from the way Yori spoke about it.

“Well, love, we don’t really need the help. We’ve got everything under control and now we’re just trying to finalize everything,” Kim explained as best she could, hoping she did not offend her lover. 

“You’re done?” Shego asked, swallowing down some abnormal emotion that burned in her throat. She did not know what it was, but she knew she did not like it.

“Yeah, we were able to move pretty fast after Ron jumped in to help,” Kim answered. 

“Ron?” Shego’s eyes shifted to the aforementioned male, who gulped. She did not say anything to him, but it was clear she was not happy to hear he helped. _Kim asked Ron to help, but didn’t ask me? The hell?_

“Ron-kun was very eager to assist us. It was his honor,” Yori remarked, earning a laugh from the best friends.

Shego looked at them, guessing she was missing an inside joke, which she was. She suddenly turned and stormed off. Rage ate at her and it was very clear in her movements.

The friends watched Shego go, faces twisted with confusion. They turned their attention back to their work, but Kim and Yori wondered what was up with Shego. Ron thought Shego was acting like she always did – like a crank. 

“That was weird,” Yori commented.

“Very. I think Shego’s just on edge because Bonnie’s been spending a lot of time with her mother. She might miss Bonnie,” Kim explained. 

“Plus, you’re spending all your time on this,” Ron added. He knew when Yori was spending all of her time with Kim and working on the tournament, he felt lonely. That was one of the reasons he jumped on board to help.

Kim nodded, conceding that point. “Well, when this is all over, she’ll have us both back and I think she’ll be fine.” 

“Good. For a moment, I feared she was going to back out of the tournament,” Yori admitted in a low tone, like she did not want the walls to hear.

“You and me both!” Kim confessed with a laugh chuckle.

-8-8-8-8-

“Stupid tournament, taking up all of Kimmie’s fucking time. Stupid Ron, helping out. It’s none of his fucking business! Just like it’s none of Mommy’s fucking business about what Bonnie’s doing!” Shego grumbled as she went all the way upstairs. She tossed herself on the couch to watch television. She made note that their fat cat was nowhere to be found for once. 

She flicked the television channels and found nothing was on, which was far from a surprise. Still, she wasted her time by going through the channels over and over again. By the time she had to go back to work, Cali was at her feet, silently begging for something, that much she knew. What it was, she could not be sure. Before leaving, she checked on Cali’s bowls and saw that the water dish was empty.

“What the hell do you do to need this much fucking water?” Shego wondered in an annoyed tone while filling the bowl once more.

Cali did not answer, but she attacked the water as soon as the dish was on the floor. Shego went back to work and everything went as it normally did. She went back upstairs when the day was over, finding herself alone again because Kim was finishing up things with Yori. She promised not to be long, but that did not help Shego’s mood.

Shego took her shower, played a couple of games of pinball, and then smiled when she heard the front door open. She thought it might be Bonnie, but the smile did not fade when she saw it was Kim. Kim smiled when she saw Shego and also felt Cali rubbing against her leg. 

“Hey, love, and hey, Cali,” Kim said, leaning down to pet the feline.

“You’re going to take your shower first?” Shego asked. Her girlfriend was aware of what she was referring to. 

“Yeah. I’ll take a shower and then I’ll call Bonnie to see when she’s coming home. Are you going to make dinner tonight?” Kim countered.

“Fuck that, I cooked last night.”

Kim did not argue that, but she also was not allowed make meals, so they had to hope Bonnie would be up to it or they would have takeout. She went to take her shower and she called up Bonnie, but no one answered the phone. She did not think anything of it and went to relax with Shego. 

“So?” Shego asked.

“Nobody answered,” Kim answered with a shrug. She had a feeling that was not going to be a response that her girlfriend liked.

“The hell! She could be in trouble!” Shego declared as she jumped up. Kim pulled her right back down and leaned against the pale woman, both to calm her down and keep her in place. 

“Shego, who is she with?”

“Kimmie, I keep telling you, my mother is not some fucking god! She can’t fucking fend off everything!”

“And you are not Bonnie’s babysitter. Stop trying to smother her. You’re driving yourself nuts with this. I don’t even know why you’re freaking out like this. It’s good that Bonnie’s getting out and feels comfortable with your mother—” Kim argued.

Shego cut right in. “The hell it is! My mother is a fucking bitch! She’s probably just using Bonnie to get closer to me!” 

Kim looked at her girlfriend as if she was completely insane. “You don’t really think that. Your mother likes Bonnie and she’s already close to you.”

“The hell she is! My mother is just a bitch! Why can’t you see that!” Shego roared, eyes pleading for some support. 

The hero did not have a chance to answer. Shego ripped herself away from the couch and stormed off into the bedroom. Kim scratched her head, not totally sure what was wrong with the eldest of their trio. All she knew was that Shego was going out of her mind and for some reason she was starting to think that it had less to do with Bonnie and much more to do with Isabel. After all, Shego was not that overprotective of Bonnie even when Medea tried to kill the lawyer.

“I don’t even want to try to broach that subject, though,” Kim muttered. 

A couple of hours later, Shego came back out of the bedroom, smelling food. Kim ordered pizza since it seemed that she and Cali would be the only ones eating. The cat had a slice with meatballs while Kim had a slice of pepperoni. The pie was half meatball and half pepperoni since that was what she was used to ordering. Shego grabbed a plate and a slice with meatballs for herself.

“No Bonnie yet?” Shego grunted as she took a seat at the kitchen peninsula, next to Kim.

“Nope. She called and said she’d be here soon. That was about ten minutes ago. I was going to wait for her to eat, but Cali kept pawing at the box,” Kim explained.

“Damn fat cat,” Shego teased, nudging the feline, who was perched on top of the counter, going to town on her slice. “Should she even be eating pizza?” 

“We’ve given it to her before,” Kim replied with a shrug.

“Yeah, but now she’s bordering on morbidly obese,” Shego said. 

Before Shego was able to get into a real tirade about the cat and her greedy habits, the front door was opened and closed. Bonnie entered with a happy sigh. She felt eyes on her and turned in the direction of the kitchen. Seeing her girlfriends and pet brought a delighted smile to Bonnie face, which lasted almost a whole second – almost the same time it took Shego to get started.

“Where the hell have you been?” Shego demanded as she pushed away from the counter and marched over to Bonnie.

“Isabel and I went to a spa after practice,” Bonnie answered while backing up in a slightly defensive manner. Her face tensed, not liking the manner her lover approached her.

“A spa?” Shego flinched. She loved spas. _Why didn’t they ask me to go?_ She shook that thought away. “You spending all this fucking time with my mother, why don’t you just go live with the bitch?” she snorted. 

“Shego, what the hell is wrong with you? Don’t talk about Isabel like that! You’re lucky to have her as a mother!” Bonnie retorted.

“Oh, is that why you’re trying to steal her?” Shego shrieked.

Nobody, no even Shego herself, expected that line. The silence that followed had so much pressure to it that everyone thought it might destroy them. It got to the point where Cali abandoned her dinner and disappeared into one of her many crawl spaces. Fight or flight senses were kicking in for all of them. Unfortunately, both commands were going to their brains, which had them all staying right where they were.

Bonnie was the one who managed to break the silence. “Shego…” she started, not sure where to go from there, though.

Frowning, Shego threw her hands up. “You know, what, fuck it. You want to hang out with my fucking mother, go ahead. Not like I give a shit about what either of you do.” She then stormed out of the apartment. 

“Shego!” Bonnie and Kim called. They were going to chase after the former thief, but considering the fact that she took the quick way to the street – jumping out of the window – they knew they would not catch up with her.

“What the hell was that?” Bonnie practically cried, rushing over to Kim for comfort. She was embraced immediately. 

Kim rubbed Bonnie’s back. “It’s okay, Bonnie. Shego’s just not used to sharing her mother… or you really. I mean, she knows where we all stand, but she has no clue where you stand with her mother or where her mother stands with you.”

“Does she really think I’m trying to steal Isabel? Isabel’s just helping me with my routine because I want to make you two proud!” 

“Like I said, Shego’s not used to this. How often does she have to put up sharing her mother, after all? Yes, she has four brothers, but she’s her mother’s only daughter. I think it’s fair to say she’s the favorite, too. She’s her mother’s firefly and not matter how much she tries to act like they’re not close, they are. I think she’s just a little jealous that you’ve been getting all her mommy’s attention. Problem is, she hasn’t realized that yet and it’s making her crazy,” Kim explained, gently rocking her lover, easing some of the anxiety rising in Bonnie.

Bonnie nodded, but did not move out of the embrace for quite some time. Kim held her, pizza forgotten for the moment.

-8-8-8-8-

Shego raged as she marched down the dark, deserted street, looking as if she was angry at the world and would fry the whole planet if given the chance. Her mind moved like a hurricane, not sure what to settle on, so not settling on anything, just moving thoughts along too rapidly to really consider any of them. The only pause came when she dared to wonder why the hell her mother was hanging out with Bonnie so much.

 _Mommy hasn’t even tried to invite me some place. I mean, what the hell? Usually, when she does shit like this, she’s trying to get something from me, but it’s like she doesn’t even want me around. What the fuck? What is she doing with Bonnie that she doesn’t want me around?_ A deep scowl cut into the corners of her mouth.

Her mind went to the dumbest conclusion she could possibly reach first, just to get it out of the way. She shook off the thought, knowing her mother would never think to sleep with Bonnie and she knew Bonnie would never think to sleep with her mother. Whatever it was that was going on with them was not about a sexual attraction. Hell, she doubted it was about an attraction at all, but there was some sort of affection that she could not sort out at the moment.

 _Why the hell would Bonnie have any sort of fucking affection for my stupid mother? Mommy isn’t even cool. Why the hell would anybody want to spend time with her? I mean, that’s why I never hang out with her. She’s such a bitch_. None of this made any sense!

She could not come up with any suitable conclusions, which gave her a pounding headache. When the throbbing in her head became unbearable, she returned home with no more answers than when she left. She slept on the couch that night. Cali eventually flopped down on her, but that was the only company she got for the night. It was the only company that she would have been able to stand, too. 

In the morning, the tension from the night returned. Cali did not stick around again and Kim wished she could shrink into feline form to follow their cat. Shego glared at Bonnie as if the lawyer’s very existence offended her. Bonnie, not one to back down, returned the glare and added a sneer. Kim was not sure what to do – either act as peacemaker or flee the scene.

“Loves—” Kim started when they were all in the kitchen, scurrying around for breakfast. 

“Can it, Possible!” both Bonnie and Shego ordered with fire in their eyes and heat in their tones.

“I can’t believe you two are about to have a fight over something so stupid! Okay, Isabel likes hanging out with Bonnie. Leave it alone, Shego,” Kim suggested.

“The hell I will! My mother’s up something, but Bonnie’s too pigheaded to see that!” Shego barked, eyes shooting daggers into their tanned girlfriend.

“I’m pigheaded? Do you even hear yourself talking? You can be so stubborn sometimes!” Bonnie countered, hands on her hips and hip cocked out to the right. 

“I can be stubborn? You’re nothing but trouble! You blame me and Kim for everything, but it’s really you!”

Bonnie flinched while Kim spoke up. “THAT’S ENOUGH!” the hero screamed at the top of her lungs.

“I don’t need this shit,” Bonnie grumbled, stormed off, grabbing her briefcase and coat on the way out. 

“Proud of yourself?” Kim asked Shego.

“To hell with you, Princess. You know it’s true and you just don’t want to say it,” Shego replied.

“You know it’s not true, but you’re too busy being an asshole to admit it right now,” Kim countered before following Bonnie’s cue and leaving the apartment. Shego frowned, staying right where she was.

-8-8-8-8-

“Bonnie, is everything all right?” Isabel asked as she met the young attorney at the gym for their usual practice. 

Bonnie’s eyes were clearly troubled, on the verge of spilling her heart on to the canvass beneath her feet. Her arms were wrapped around herself, trying in vain to provide affection and keep her together. Isabel placed a tender hand on her shoulder.

“I think we should stop seeing each other,” Bonnie said. 

Isabel chuckled. “You make it sound like we’re dating.”

“I think that’s how Shego’s taking it,” came the mumbled response.

“Ah, my brilliant daughter. What did she do to you?” Isabel inquired. _My sweet children, always with odd reactions_ , she thought. She hated knowing they picked those traits up from her, including the way they responded to those reactions. _Hopefully, they all find someone to deal with their reactions like I did_.

“I don’t really know. I think she’s upset that we’re spending so much time together. But, she just keeps yelling at me…” Bonnie sniffled and then bit her lip for a moment. “…And this morning…” She rubbed her eye with her palm. It hurt so much just to think about Shego saying she was nothing but trouble. _This is how they felt when I blamed them_. _Is it true? Am I the one who causes all of the drama that follows us around like our shadows? Would they be better off without_ _me?_  

“This morning?” Isabel pressed.

Bonnie’s forehead wrinkled in concentration, doing her best to hold off tears. “She said I was trouble. Maybe she’s right…”

Isabel clicked her tongue a couple of times. “No, no, no. She’s wrong and she’s angry for whatever reason. I think this is just foreign to her. She’s lashing out at you because she doesn’t know how to cope with something involving you going out without her, training without her, or something like that. Maybe she’s just not used to you being out so late without her and Kim around.” 

Bonnie gave Isabel a long look and felt like Isabel truly believed that. Isabel had no idea Shego was actually upset over her mother spending time with someone else and not Bonnie spending time with someone else. _Well, at least Shego comes by it honestly, like most of her personality_.

“She said I was stealing you from her,” Bonnie admitted. Maybe Isabel would have better insight into this if she knew about the other angle.

Isabel’s eyes went wide for a few seconds. She was not sure if she wanted to laugh or not. She did neither and just focused on Bonnie.

“I can see how she might come to that conclusion. Shego isn’t used to me spending time with other females beyond my mother and my sister, and believe me, I don’t very much want to spend a lot of time with either of them. But, Shego… well, you know. She’s my only daughter, after all. She acts the way that she does partially because she looks at herself as ‘the only game in town.’ I guess now she thinks that since I have you and Kim, too, she could lose me,” Isabel reasoned.

“I thought she acted that way because she actually didn’t like you. Well, she wanted everyone to believe she doesn’t like you, anyway,” Bonnie said. Really, she just did not get why Shego acted the way that she did toward Isabel when they were all so certain that she loved Isabel with all of her heart. 

“My relationship with Shego is very complicated. The only real reason I understand it is because I’ve raised her and I’m quite the same with my own mother. I was also very upset when my sister was born, which I can now admit because I was upset there was going to be someone else around for my mother to give attention to. Maybe none of us know how to deal with it. Don’t let her words upset you. I’ll make sure she’s straightened out,” Isabel vowed.

“How are you going to do that? She doesn’t listen to you when she’s upset,” Bonnie pointed out. 

“I’ve dealt with her all of her life. I know the ways to attack my firefly. You don’t worry about it. You just focus on your routine. Everything should be perfect for the tournament. You did say that Kim decided to do the whole weekend, right?” Isabel asked, purposely pulling the subject away from the topic that caused Bonnie so much pain.

“Yes. The first day is going to be for displays and routines. They also decided to test for belts that day too,” Bonnie explained.

“Seems like it’s going to be a big event. We need you to be ready for it. Have to show off just how much Kim and Shego managed to teach you,” Isabel said with a smile. That got Bonnie’s attention back on work because she looked forward to showing off in front of a crowd, for everyone to see what her girlfriends taught her.

-*-(New day)-*-

Shego took her lunch alone again, but she tried to convince herself that she did not care. She had already burned a couple of bridges with her girlfriends, making a point to say some rather hurtful things to their faces whenever they happened to be in the same room as her. She was lashing out, but the upsetting thing was that it was not making her feel any better. She wished that things would just go back to normal.

 _Maybe if I pull the plug on this stupid fucking tournament, everything would be all right,_ Shego pondered. In her opinion, everything started going to Hell when she agreed to that stupid tournament. 

She was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of knocking on the apartment door. She was tempted to tell Cali to get it, but she scared the cat off quite a while ago… not that Cali would change into her humanoid form to answer the door. Shego grumbled as she went to the door and did not bother to ask who it was. If the person had made it this far, they already made it by Kim downstairs. Shego was dumbstruck when she opened the door. Her mouth dropped open and her eyes went wide.

“Hadrian…” Shego muttered. 

“Hey, Shona,” Hadrian, also known as Hego, greeted his younger sister with a small smile.

“What’re you doing here?” she inquired with a scrunched up, confused face.

“Mommy said you were having a tournament or something soon and I wanted to see. The only thing is, she didn’t know when it was. I had some vacation time and figured it was about time I came to see you anyway. I mean, we haven’t seen much of each other without some trouble following right behind. We should catch up… right?” he countered, a hopeful look on his face. His deep sapphire eyes implored her to hear him out, if only for a little while.

Shego blinked. She was so confused that it did not even occur to her to kick him out. “I guess so. You might as well come in. Try not to rip the door out of wall,” she teased with a smile.

Hadrian smiled a little himself. He did have to turn sideways to fit though the door, but it was something he was used to. He cast his indigo gaze around the apartment and he whistled as she shut the door behind him.

“You are doing good for yourself. Mommy kept going on and on about how good you were doing, but this is beyond expectations,” Hadrian commented, nodding in approval of the dwelling. 

“Mommy just never shuts up, huh?” Shego grumbled, folding her arms across her chest.

Hadrian rolled his eyes. “I guess you two are still getting along the same as always. So, give your big brother the grand tour!” 

Shego laughed a bit, but she did as he requested. As she led him places, she felt some joy inside, but she did not stop to contemplate the feeling. He laughed when he saw the pinball machine, remembering the pinball tournaments they had in their youth with their father. He had never been very good and often threw tantrums when he lost.

“Wanna play once for old times?” Hadrian proposed.

She obliged and beat him as expected. He did not throw a tantrum, but neither of them mentioned it. They moved onto the living room. He whistled again as he inspected the entertainment center. 

“You got a sweet setup here, sis,” Hego commented and then he noticed a picture on one of the shelves. The picture was of Kim and Bonnie each kissing Shego’s cheeks; they took it on her birthday. “These your girlfriends?” he asked, motioning to the picture.

“What?” Shego choked. _How the hell did he know about them?_  

“Your girlfriends. Wes and Wen were telling me about how cute they are. The twins weren’t lying for once.”

Shego growled. “Get your own girlfriends!” _Okay, so, I probably shouldn’t feel this pissed at him, but whatever_. 

“I’ve got one. I’ll probably get engaged to her by the end of the year,” Hego supplied, knowing his sister was not aware of that.

That was enough to give her pause. “Engaged, huh? I guess you finally have grown up, you big lug,” she remarked, punching him in the shoulder.

“That’s how I know you have two girlfriends without freaking out like I did when I found out that you had the one girlfriend back when we were kids. These two seem a little young for you, though,” he teased, a smile taunting her more than his words.

She rolled her eyes. “They’re perfect for me. When did you find out about them?” It was nice that he was taking things so calmly. He had matured. It was nice, for the moment anyway. Who knew how long it would last.

“I was the last to know. Everyone thought they had to prep me for it, which I know is because of the way I treated you back when I found out you were gay. I’m bigger than that now. I do think it’s weird for you to have more than one girlfriend, though,” he admitted.

“One step at a time, bro. One step at a time.” She preferred the way he was handling this to the way he handled the way finding out that she was a lesbian back when they were teenagers. She literally felt a little lighter, like weight had been lifted off of her shoulders, but she did not stop to think why.

He smiled a little. “Yeah, that’s true. I didn’t freak out, so I’m proud of that. So, tell me about your ladies, about your school, about this crazy tournament.”

Shego nodded and complied. They sat down on the couch and she went off. It felt like old times… very old times. Once upon a time, they had been partners in crime. She had been his little sidekick. They did everything together and then little by little they began to drift apart. Hadrian got increasingly hostile toward her, so she did the same. He never explained why he changed. Of course, she never would have listened, even when they started patching things up. She just felt like he had done too much to her, created too many scars, for her to ever accept reasons for why he did such things. They would never be the same. 

“You know, I wish you included me in your life more, Shona,” Hadrian confessed when she was done with catching him up.

“There’s not much to include,” Shego lied with a slight shrug. She had learned to be very secretive when it came to her big brother. He used things to hurt her in the past and she was never sure when he might start again. She was not interested in allowing him to cause her any more injuries.

“You damn near died and never bothered to tell me! I thought you were dead until Mommy was nice enough to let me in on the secret!” he pointed out in a heated tone, hitting himself in the chest. She did not know how much pain that caused him! First, thinking that he had lost his only sister, the person he had once been closest to, and then to find out that she actually did not trust him enough to tell him that she was not dead hurt even more. It was like being jabbed in the chest with a hot poker millions of times over. 

“Everyone thought I was dead, except Mommy. Hell, even Daddy mourned me,” Shego argued.

“But, not long! I mourned you the longest! They all knew and I was left out again!”

Shego did not argue that point. Isabel had been the only one that she told that she was alive after Drakken tried to kill her. Isabel was the one that told her sons and Kane, and she did not tell them together. It was gradual with Hadrian being the last to know, just like with Shego having two girlfriends and living a domestic life with a martial arts’ school.

“It’s nothing personal,” Shego stated. No, it was a learned behavior more than anything else. Besides, she knew the news would get to the right people eventually.

“Bullshit! It is personal! I made mistakes with us, Shego!” He pointed to himself, but his eyes implored her. “I know, but, damn it, I don’t want us to be like this anymore. I want you to stop pulling away from me!” he declared while leaping to his feet and throwing his hands out to his sides. His blue eyes begged for her to forgive him, to come back to him, and for them to be siblings again. 

“You started it!” she shouted back.

“I know I did! I’m apologizing for it right now, you idiot!” 

Shego was speechless again. He made a very good point. She sighed and leaned back into the couch. He sat down again, sighing too. They both looked away before turning pained eyes on each other.

“You’re always apologizing and then you get back on your high horse,” she reminded him.

He sighed. “Look, Shona, I’m not here to argue and fight with you. I’ve done that more than I care to admit, even though I do admit that I started almost every fight with you. I’m here to support your life. You don’t know what I went through, thinking you were dead. I don’t want the high horse anymore.”

She scoffed. “Yeah, what do you want then?”

“I want to see the tournament and I want to hang out with you. I want to be your big brother again. I screwed us out of a lot of good years. I said a lot of stupid things and did a lot of stupid things…” he trailed off, unable to talk anymore. His throat seized and his eyes looked like they wanted to weep, but he dared not cry.

Shego nodded and swallowed a lump in her throat. “…Why?” she croaked. Why did he always screw them up? Even when it seemed like they would get better, he would do something to muck it all up again. _Sounds eerily familiar_.

“I don’t really know. Sometimes, I just felt like Mommy and Daddy loved you more. I think that’s why I lashed out most of the time. Other times, I got pissed when you hung out with other people. Hell, I was so jealous of your friend. What was her name? The one from Italy?” he asked, shame paling his features for a few moments.

Shego smiled wistfully. “Carina.” For a brief moment, a warmth spread through her, but that almost immediately snuffed out. _No, no, no. Do not go down that road_. 

“Do you still talk to her?” he asked.

“Why the hell were you jealous of her?” 

“You always hung around her! We were partners!” he reminded her, motioning between them with his large hand.

“You had your own friends and they never wanted me around!” she countered.

“Oh, right.” His shoulders tensed and fell for a moment. He scratched his head. “I guess you make a point. I was confused. It didn’t help that I always had _that guy_ talking in my ear, telling me all kinds of crazy shit. Hell, he was the reason I thought Mommy and Daddy loved you more. I was nuts as a kid, Shona. I’m not as nuts anymore. I want us to get along again, not just tolerate each other,” he pointed out, so sincere that it made his eyes shine and a smile came onto his face without his permission.

She nodded and smiled, reacting to his expression and the vibes that he gave off. She started thinking about when she was Hadrian’s sidekick. Hell, the name that she went by was the one she gave herself to be his sidekick, even though she liked telling herself that she did it as a mocking gesture to her big brother. She used his precious superhero codename in her life of crime, but she still went by it even now. Maybe there was more to it than mocking him. There was still some fondness there and probably always would be. They had been close, almost like twins.

 _Now, you have to trust he won’t fuck it up_. Trust was a big thing, especially with her and Hadrian. Hego did not give her much of a reason to trust him, but he was here now. He wanted to see her tournament. He seemed different than before. He had been standing there for almost ten minutes and there was no high horse in sight. It had to be a record.

“So, where you staying?” Shego asked. She stored away her other thoughts. Not discarding them, but not feeling like it was time to give into an overflow of long dormant emotions. She needed to deal with her brother gradually, lest she feel his sting once more, even though he honestly had changed and she knew it.

“Mommy and Daddy’s house in Upperton. Soon as I said I was coming, Mommy wouldn’t have it any other way,” he explained with a shrug.

Shego nodded. “I can imagine. Your future fiancée here, too?”

“Yup. You want to meet her?” he asked, unable to hide the hope in his voice. His eyes sparkled like diamonds, revealing his delight with the idea. 

“I’d like that, Hego. Maybe we can go out on a double-date. You can meet my girls… or will that freak your girlfriend out?” This could be a true test. Bonnie and Kim would be able to handle Hego if he got on his high horse and if he did not, maybe they could truly move forward.

“I might need to prepare her mentally for it. Give me a few days.” He smiled, showing he liked the idea, but he really did need to get his girlfriend ready for something like that.

“It’s okay. I’m going to need a few days anyway,” Shego commented. _I need to fix this mess with my girls._ She replayed everything that happened between her and her lovers in her mind now and she did not like what she saw. It reminded her of a long ago past that words ruined, a past that still rocked her present, and would probably make for a difficult future. She did not want that to happen between her and her lovers. She did love them, after all. 

“Everything okay with you and your girlfriends?” he asked with genuine concern.

“Yeah,” she lied. She paused and stared at her brother, thinking about everything that he just said. “Well, not okay, but they will be. I’ve been pissing them off lately for a bad reason.”

His face scrunched up. “Why?”

“I’d rather not talk about it right now. It just shows that being a jackass runs in our family. I think we get it from Mommy,” Shego remarked with a taunting smile.

“Mommy would probably say we get it from Grandma.”

Shego laughed. “And Grandma would just agree.”

Hadrian laughed, too. “But, that’s because Grandma’s cool like that.”

“Yeah.”

They spent a few more minutes together before Hadrian had to leave after getting a call from his girlfriend. Apparently, Kane was making her nervous. _Big surprise there!_

“You actually left your girlfriend alone in the house with Daddy?” Shego asked incredulously. _Why in the world would he leave his girlfriend to come see me? Of course, bringing her with him might not have been a good idea either_. Neither of them could ever calculate how they would act with each other at this point, so it would not be fair to subject an innocent third party to their behavior.

“Making it worse, this is the first time they’ve met. He’s creeping her out,” Hadrian answered.

“Of course he is. That’s what he does. He didn’t touch her ass, did he?”

“Please, Mommy would break his fingers. I’ll call you to see when we can hook up. I’ll definitely see you before your tournament, okay?”

“Cool.”

The siblings parted ways there. There were no farewells; Kane liked to believe that members of the Han family just did not believe in saying goodbye. As far as Shego could tell, he was right. Shego walked around the rest of the day with a small smile on her face.

Kim noticed and guessed she had done the right thing by letting Hego in earlier. But, then again, once he said Isabel sent him, Kim figured it was either cool or going to turn into Hell on Earth. Good to see it was the former.

-8-8-8-8-

“Come here, you,” Shego said while tugging Kim to her. They were in their apartment. Bonnie had not come in yet, which they expected. Bonnie was coming in later and later, not wanting to deal with Shego’s outburst.

“No, I’m not looking to be a captive victim!” Kim joked, knowing Shego was being playful for the first time in over a week. She squirmed as Shego pressed their bodies together. Shego stilled her with a loving kiss to the neck.

“It’s too late. Where do you get off letting my brother in this house?” Shego inquired, speaking into Kim’s ear.

“I know you haven’t seen any of them in a while, so I thought you’d like to catch up. Was I wrong?” Kim doubted she was wrong since Shego had stayed with her brother and Shego had not screamed her head off when he left.

“You know you weren’t. I’ve seen that smug look in your eyes all day, Possible. I’m actually glad you let him in. Out of all of my brothers, I keep up with Hadrian the least.”

“Hadrian?” Kim echoed.

“Oh, sorry. Hego. His real name is Hadrian.”

“Let me guess, Kane named him,” Kim said.

“Of course. The man loves his Italy, after all. Anyway, I’m going to be straight with you, Kimmie, which I know doesn’t happen often enough,” Shego stated in a serious voice.

“Not around here anyway,” Kim teased with a half-smirk on her face.

“Don’t be a smart-aleck. You know what I mean when I say I’m going to be straight with you. Anyway, I do want to apologize for the way I was acting. I’ve been an asshole,” Shego admitted. She could not believe she had resorted to hurting her girlfriends just because she was hurt. That was beyond being an asshole in her opinion, but she did not have any other word to describe what it was. She just knew what kind of damage it could do.

“Yes, you have,” the younger woman agreed wholeheartedly.

“Forgive me?” Shego requested, snuggling into Kim’s neck.

“Maybe for an explanation, I’ll consider it.”

“You sided with Bonnie.”

Kim groaned loudly and for a long while. “I did not! You two always assume I side with someone when you fight. I just try to keep you from saying something you’ll regret.”

“You did a piss poor job then,” Shego remarked with a sorrow half-smile.

Kim’s expression fell. “I always do.”

“Aw, Princess! Don’t look like that. You did your best. I was the one who was being an asshole!” Shego insisted, holding onto Kim tighter, trying to lift her spirits. If nothing else, Kim appreciated the effort and gave her lover credit for at least that.

“You were. I get so scared when you and Bonnie fight, though. I get scared that one of you might really say something that makes this all end. I don’t want us to end,” the hero replied in a pleading voice.

Shego held Kim tighter. “We won’t,” she promised.

Before either of them could say more, they heard the door open. Bonnie entered the apartment and dropped her things. She marched through the front of the apartment and came to the living room, thinking only Kim would be there. She frowned when she saw Kim in the arms of Shego.

“Of course,” Bonnie hissed, glaring at the pair.

“Duchess, come here,” Shego urged the lawyer with a short wave.

“To hell with you, Shego,” Bonnie replied harshly.

“Baby, give her a chance,” Kim pled.

“You always take her side,” Bonnie whined, which caused Kim to drop her head.

“She didn’t take my side, Duchess. Please, just come here. I want to apologize to you. I’ve been a total bitch for no reason,” Shego said, one hand out beckoning the missing piece of their puzzle.

“No shit!” Bonnie retorted with a snarl.

“Well, damn it, if you come over here, I can apologize properly and you don’t have to keep glaring me like I’m a total douche!”

Bonnie almost choked to hold back a laugh. She could not believe how Shego just described herself. Yes, more often than not, Shego was crude, but she rarely used the word “douche.” It was that rare occurrence that pushed her closer to her lovers and caught her up in Shego’s warm embrace. Shego leaned down and kissed Bonnie’s forehead and did the same to Kim now that she had them both in her arms.

“I want to apologize to both of you. Seeing Hadrian today and talking to him helped me realize what the hell I’ve been doing. I’ve been being an asshole to you because I’m not happy with myself and a situation. It has nothing to do with you two personally. About my outburst, which we will never speak of again… in fact, I never actually said it, but for all intents and purposes, if I had said it, it’s just because I’m not used to my mother being so interested in someone I’m dating. I’m not used to my mother wanting to hang around another girl, except my aunt anyway. I didn’t know how to take it. I didn’t know what to make of her giving you all that attention, Bonnie. I’m happy for you if you like hanging out with her. It’s just weird for her to call the house and not want to talk to me…” Shego admitted, glancing off to the side. She blinked away tears, which her girlfriends politely ignored. She was not losing her mother to Bonnie, she knew that, and Bonnie deserved having a mother figure who wanted to show her affection, attention, and treat her properly. Hell, Kim did not have a problem with it when Ann did it, so Shego knew she needed to get over herself.

“Love, you mother still loves you. She’s just helping me—” Bonnie tried to argue.

Shego jumped in. “No, she’s using that as an excuse. She likes being around you, Bonnie. Maybe more than she likes being around me…” her voice cracked a bit on that one.

Bonnie gasped and pulled away, just enough to look Shego in the eye. “Don’t be silly! Love, your mother adores you! She loves being around you! She’s not trying to replace you or use me as a stand-in. She loves you just as much as she always has.”

Kim listened to this whole back and forth and smiled inwardly. It was good for Shego to figure out what had been troubling her so much and it made sense to Kim. She wondered if Shego would ever deal with it and work it out with Isabel or if they would go on as they were. It was a strange relationship to be sure.

Shego was silent for a moment. “Anyway, I just want to say sorry for the way I was acting. I was being an asshole.” She had acted just like her brother acted when they were younger and she knew just how destructive that could be. Well, she was not letting things go any further.

“You were,” Bonnie agreed. Kim nodded.

“I know. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean any of things I said to both of you. I just wanted to make you hurt the way I was hurting. I know that’s bad, horrible really. I promise you that I’ll never do it again. I don’t want this to end. I don’t want you two to hate me. I want us to stay together, to grow old together, and all of that domestic, lovey-dovey, mushy stuff. Please, forgive my pigheadedness,” Shego begged with a sniffle. “Forgive me…” she squeaked, a tear escaping her eye. 

There was a long silence that sounded deafening to Shego. She swore she could hear her heart beating and she was almost certain at the rate it was going, it would explode soon. And then everything calmed and slowed as she felt two pairs of gentle lips covering her mouth. It took her a second to realize her lovers were kissing her and it took her another second to kiss them back.

“Forgiven,” Kim and Bonnie whispered.

Shego’s bottom lip trembled. She was starting to become overcome with emotion. A few tears slowly went down her face as she made her next move. She leaned in, managing to kiss Kim while working off Bonnie’s shirt. She then switched moves, kissing Bonnie and removing Kim’s shirt.

Bonnie and Kim could only guess that Shego had a secret power that she did not tell them about; some ability to grow extra arms, they guessed. It was the only way to explain how she managed to get them both naked and on the couch without either of them feeling neglected for even a moment. However she managed it, she did it quickly and she was not looking to stop.

She needed the physical reassurance that they were all right. Kim and Bonnie needed that reassurance, too. They needed to feel the passion they caused in each other, the lust, the love, and the soul-touching experience that only existed when they were all together.

Bonnie and Kim both writhed under Shego’s focused, deep, and thrilling administrations. Black lips suckled a tanned breast while a green hand molded a peach hill. Moans escaped the younger pair as their bodies cried out for more of Shego’s magic touch. Bonnie tried to push herself further into Shego’s mouth while Kim decided to make herself useful and get Shego out of her clothing. Bonnie caught on to what Kim was trying to do and had enough brainpower to help.

When Shego was topless, Bonnie was done with helping. She just wanted Shego pressed against her to feel skin against skin. Kim was still not to be denied her desire to have Shego naked, so she moved onto the pants while Bonnie was trying to pull Shego on top of her. Kim had to shift, losing contact with the gifted hand keeping her warm, but she was able to get those damnable pants off. Bonnie must have noticed because she yanked Shego completely on top of her.

Shego, not forgetting Kim, reached out and yanked the redhead into her back. Kim hit Shego, which helped force more of Bonnie’s breast into her mouth. Shego moaned as she felt Kim moving against her back. She reached behind her to caress the hero, getting deep moans from Kim as she kneaded whatever flesh her hands came in contact with, greedily roaming all of the hero’s taut, agile frame. Kim’s hands wandered Shego’s body at their leisure, groping and caressing every few seconds. They might have stayed that way if only Shego did not moan loudly when Bonnie’s hand took shelter between her legs. 

Shego pulled away from a decidedly delicious gem. “That’s supposed to be my job,” she growled, speaking to the lawyer.

“To touch yourself? You’re trying to make me and Kimmie unemployed then,” Bonnie remarked, eyes hooded with undisguised desire. 

Shego could only growl in retort as Bonnie’s fingers caressed her, searching, plundering, and looting her core. She dropped down lower, almost falling on Bonnie as wave after wave of delight coursed through her. Bonnie continued to quest, wanting of Shego, wanting all of Shego.

Kim followed and found herself in an interesting position. She was now close enough to drive Bonnie to distraction and quickly did so. Bonnie screamed and hissed when she felt familiar visitors stroking her most intimate area, loving her with care, but possessing her completely at the same time. Shego knew that sound well and reached behind her to make sure Kim got proper attention, too. It was tricky, but Shego managed it.

Kim’s legs almost flattered, but she braced herself against Shego’s back. Her rhythm with Bonnie changed for a moment, earning a deep whimper from the attorney. Kim wasted no time correcting her miscue, putting her thumb to work, stroking Bonnie, as her fingers slipped in and out. Bonnie’s body shook and the tremble disturbed her work on Shego. It barely took them a few seconds to all fall into a steady flow.

Lips kissed and bit whatever flesh was close while fingers continued prodding and probing, caressing and loving. Moans, hisses, and cries filled the room as the air heated up from their boiling passion. Sweat gathered and dripped from their moving bodies, mixing with other fluids. Heights were reached, spirits connected, and souls soared, meeting with declarations of love and promises of forever… over and over again.

Eventually, they were all spent and their mating ball came undone. They collapsed on the floor, curling into each other for warmth, protection, and affection. Sleep overtook them all seconds apart.

Sunlight invaded the apartment. Twin groans escaped Shego and Bonnie, as the light was shining right on them. Shego pulled a blanket that was covering them over their heads. Just as she was about to fall back to sleep, she realized they never covered themselves with a blanket. She cracked open an eye to see Cali curled in between Kim and Bonnie, sleeping just as hard as the two women. Shego smiled and then went back to sleep, too. _Guess she’s not that lazy_.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: the end.


	23. Bull’s Eye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own most of these characters; Disney does. I do own Isabel, her mother, and her sister, though.

23: Bull’s Eye

“I can’t believe I agreed to this shit,” Shego muttered while smoothing out one of her favorite forest green shirts. The top flattered her form, but not as much as many of her other shirts. She stood in the bedroom, staring into the closet, trying to figure out what pants or skirt to put on with her top.

Kim and Bonnie were in the room, too. They were all getting ready to go out and they all in various stages of dress. Cali sat on the bed, watching them with sorrowful eyes, very aware she was not going with them. While she understood she had to stay home when they left in the morning, she did not see why she should have to be alone in the evening.

“Babe, it’s already done,” Kim pointed out. She was in front of their full-length mirror to check out her outfit… for the fourth time. She currently wore a form-fitting white shirt with golden trim and cream-colored pants that hugged her slim hips. She contemplated changing the pants… again.

“So, stop whining about it,” Bonnie added. She was the least dressed out of all of them – not counting Cali. She just had on a slip and sat at the vanity, applying her makeup. She knew what she would put on, which was more than she could say about her girlfriends. 

“Shut the hell up and get dressed,” Shego replied with some snap in her tone. She knew it was not the best comeback since she was not dressed, but she would be damned if she was going to let her girlfriends have the last word.

“I am,” Kim replied smugly, even though she was very close to taking off her pants to find new ones.

“Let’s not kid ourselves, Princess. You’re five seconds away from changing that outfit, hoping to find something more fancy to meet my idiot brother in,” Shego stated, sounding just as smug as Kim. Then she rolled her eyes.

“I want to look my best!” Kim argued, turning to glare that the older woman for a moment. It was not every day that she met Shego’s big brother and his girlfriend, after all.

“It’s just Hego and he’s an idiot,” Shego said.

Kim and Bonnie just looked over at Shego, who was focused on her clothes, so she did not notice. They did not point out that she was putting as much care into what she would wear as Kim was. This was obviously important to her, so it was important to them.

The trio was about to head out to meet up with Hadrian, also know as Hego, and his girlfriend. They were all supposed to have dinner together. It was a way for the siblings to try to mend bridges and heal old wounds while letting each other into their lives. Kim was very much in favor of going while Bonnie seemed much more subdued and Shego wished she never agreed to “bond” in the first place.

“We should just skip this and go to the movies or something,” Shego muttered while pulling out a pair of black pants. She put them back barely two seconds after the fact. She wanted something that was nice and very comfortable, but also did not appear too nice. God forbid someone thought she cared about this encounter.

“I like the sound of that,” Bonnie agreed. Cali jumped up, as if wanting to be let in on that plan.

“No, we’re not ditching your brother, Shego,” Kim said, causing pouts from all of the other females in the room – including Cali.

“Why not? He’s a total flake, anyway!” Shego argued, keeping her attention in their huge walk-in closet. It was almost the size of another room and split, so each of them had a side.

“No, no, no. You’re the one who set this up and I know you did because you secretly like your brother,” Kim countered, but was cut off before she could finish.

“Like hell I do!” Shego bellowed, turning and looking as if she had been shot by the words. She wanted to make sure her girlfriends saw how indignant she was, so they would never make the mistake of her caring about her idiot of a big brother. Bonnie only glanced at her from the mirror and Kim rolled her eyes.

“You do, love, you do. Your mommy ratted you out,” Kim stated, feeling that would end it all there. Her olive-eyes sparkled, knowing she just won the battle while Shego’s mouth dropped open in disbelief.

“Ah!” Shego pulled at her own hair. “That traitorous cow!” The words escaped her mouth before she had time to think them out. She did not even realize she confirmed their suspicions since she did not call her mother rotten liar on that one.

Kim chuckled a bit, happy to have spoken to Shego’s parents after finding out about the dinner arrangement. They set her straight about things she had suspected anyway. She was aware Shego was not as antagonistic toward her brothers as she pretended and she knew they mattered to Shego, but she did not know how much. Isabel and Kane had been able to tell her stories and their opinions all day that led her to believe this meeting with Hego was critical. The whole reasons Isabel contacted Hego early about the tournament was so he could try to fix things with Shego.

Bonnie was of a different mindset, but refused to share what was on in her mind. The storm brewing behind the focused turquoise eyes swirled just enough for her lovers to notice. They saw it throughout the night, but were not sure what to make of it. They thought it could be nervousness on Bonnie’s part with meeting more of Shego’s family, but they could not be sure since Bonnie denied it was there in the first place.

“Baby, don’t you think you should put on your dress now,” Kim suggested as she turned to Bonnie. She silently decided to give up the search for the “perfect” outfit because she realized she was only adding to Shego’s stalling. She was going to get Shego to that dinner even if it killed Shego!

“I’m fine. Shego’s not ready yet,” Bonnie pointed out, pointing behind her with her thumb. She could see in the vanity mirror that Shego was still sans pants.

“Fine, Shego put whatever pants on. They’re all nice and they’re all black,” Kim commanded. She could not understand why Shego was acting like she had such a wide choice when all of her clothes were some shade of green or black.

“Don’t rush me,” Shego snorted, scanning her vast wardrobe.

Kim glanced back and forth between her girlfriends. She had a feeling they were both stalling for each other. Well, she was not going to let them get away with that. Shego needed to see her brother and he needed to see her. Kim was going to do everything in her power to make that happen.

“Baby,” Kim said while walking over to Bonnie. She leaned down so that her face was on level with the attorney and she looked at Bonnie through the mirror instead of in the eye. “You look perfect. Anything more would be too much, so please put your dress on so we can leave.” She caressed Bonnie’s bare shoulders lightly, enough to make her crave more.

Bonnie was still going to object, but Kim was not done yet. She leaned over and planted soft, tender kisses to Bonnie’s neck and behind her ear. Bonnie could not help purring from the attention, which caused Cali to turn to them. Alpha Kimmie had struck again. Cali could not figure out how they managed to co-exist the way the group dynamics changed constantly, sometimes minute-by-minute.

“You really think I look perfect?” Bonnie asked in a low tone.

Kim placed one more kiss to Bonnie’s throat before responding. “You’re always perfect to me, but right now, I know when you put that dress on, all I’m going to want to do is take you out of it.”

“Will you?” Bonnie inquired with some hope. She missed when Kim took total control of her, back before they were a trio.

“Promise, but we have to go to dinner first,” Kim whispered.

And Bonnie was done with that. She stood up and quickly stepped into her sleek black dress that fit as if it was painted on Bonnie. The soft material hugged her in ways that made her lovers want to seriously rethink their plans for the night. Dinner was not  _too_  important and Shego could reconnect with her brother some other night… right?

“Zip me,” Bonnie requested in a low voice, knowing just what she was doing to the martial artists.

Kim was closer, so she got to Bonnie first. Shego glared at the redhead from across the room. Kim smiled, showing her lovers’ personalities were rubbing off on her because the expression was teasing and directed right at Shego. Kim maintained eye contact with the older woman as she stood behind Bonnie and slowly secured the dress in place with the zipper and clasp. She then pressed herself against Bonnie’s back, resting her hands against the lawyer’s ass.

“Oh, you feel so good,” Kim murmured, burying her face in the nape of her lover’s neck.

“Are you sure we can’t skip dinner?” Bonnie asked, starting to pant a little bit from the closeness of their bodies and the heat from Kim’s body and soul.

“Dinner first. Right, Shego?” Kim inquired, grinding slightly against Bonnie’s tempting form.

Shego’s mind had checked out of the conversation, in favor of focusing all of her attention on Bonnie’s dress. It was not the best dress Bonnie owned and it was not even the one that looked that best on her, but for some reason, it looked a lot better than either of her girlfriends remembered it. Bonnie smiled, pleased with the dazed look on Shego’s face and Kim’s reaction against her. She had definitely made the right choice.

“Shego, get ready! You’re holding us up!” Kim proclaimed while marching away from Bonnie over to the awe-struck former thief. Bonnie whimpered from the loss of body contact.

Shego shook herself out of her stupor while wondering where the hell it even came from. She blinked hard as she now noticed Kim was in her face, trying to give her a pair of pants. She accepted the pants just because she did not know what was going on. She did know she was not in as bad a mood as she had been in a minute ago and it was because of one simple thought – her girlfriends were hot.

Shego realized she had two very attractive girlfriends, who were deeply in love with her and she was the same with them. She had their support through whatever might happen with her brother; and there were never a shortage of things that could happen when Hego was involved. But, she did not have to worry about anything because they would be there for her and they would not judge her in regards to what might happen or what had happened between her and her brother.

“Let’s go,” Shego declared as she slid her pants on.

Kim smiled as the trio walked to the bedroom door. Cali jumped down off the bed and followed them. She stood with them when they went to get their jackets from the hall closet and she even went with them to the door. It was by that time that they realized their pet was trying to leave with them.

“No, we talked about this Cali. You can’t come with us,” Bonnie said in a firm voice, staring down at the feline.

Cali was trying her best to look very pathetic and pitiful, even though it rarely worked on her humans. She wanted to go because she knew dinner meant food and she wanted some food. She liked eating with her humans best of all, so she wanted to go out and dine with them, even though they told her about a hundred times she could not go.

“Stop looking like that. Nobody cares,” Shego pointed out. Cali knew it was the truth, but she continued to pout.

“Hey, we’ll bring you back some good fish and mashed potatoes,” Kim promised while leaning down to scratch behind Cali’s ear – one of her favorite spots. The feline purred, approving the idea.

“Don’t try to open any cans while we’re gone,” Bonnie warned the cat while leaning down to pet her as a goodbye also.

Cali nodded, showing she understood that order quite well. Recently, the trio came home to find all of their canned goods decapitated. Now, they knew it was their fault for all coming in late and not leaving Cali enough food to make it through the day, but there was just something about the sight of the kitchen covered in everything from tuna to beans that left them angry enough to not accept fault. The scolding was enough for Cali to never want to see another can, so she decided to forget even trying to open one.

After giving the cat just a little more attention than they thought necessary, the trio departed for dinner. They had to waste some time with Bonnie and Shego arguing over whose car they were taking and then who was driving. Kim volunteered to drive, hoping to be the peacemaker, but that only got her girlfriends into it even more because they had to debate why Kim would volunteer, if it was a good idea, and why it would be better for Kim to drive their car if it was such a good idea.

“I’m taking the bus,” Kim decided and she started walking off.

“Hey! No princess of mine is taking the fucking bus!” Shego declared. There was no way in hell she would let her girlfriend take the bus, especially to go to dinner with her brother.

“Look, if we’re all going to the same place at the same time, does it really matter how we get there?” Kim inquired with a baffled look on her face.

“But… my car is bigger,” Shego argued weakly, looking like a small child. If this were any other time, Kim and Bonnie would have tackled her for looking so damned adorable.

“My car has satellite radio,” Bonnie countered just as weakly. She looked rather cute in her own right, but none of that registered for any of them at the moment.

“Okay, frankly, none of us are bigger than a street sign and we should be talking to each other, so there’s no need for the radio. How about we just go with whatever one is closer and I’m driving?” Kim proposed.

Her girlfriends were smart enough to smile and nod. Shego’s car was closest, parked directly in front of their building. Kim got in on the driver’s side while Shego rode shotgun and Bonnie had to settle for the back… a place that she thoroughly detested. The backseat brought up a lot of horrible memories for Bonnie and usually Kim was more than willing to take that spot, but right now, Kim just wanted to get where they needed to go.

“Duchess, don’t kick my chair,” Shego said two minutes into the fifteen-minute trip.

“I didn’t kick your chair,” Bonnie huffed.

“You did. Could you not kick my chair again?” Shego requested through gritted teeth. She was trying to keep her minimum amount of patience with her lover, but Bonnie was making that damned hard.

Kim groaned loudly. “Are you two kidding me? This is not some road trip and you’re not five years old. Bonnie, can you just cool out, please? I know you hate being back there and everything, but please, baby, for me?”

Bonnie sighed. “Sorry, love.”

“What’s the deal with the backseat, Duchess?” Shego inquired with concern and curiosity.

Bonnie snorted. “My brothers and sisters used to torment the shit out of me in the car. They’d always squeeze me in the middle, purposely trying to hurt my ribs. They’d dig their elbows in really hard. Hell, more than once I’m sure they bruised my damn ribs. My dad would scream at  _me_  if I complained about it and my mom would tell me they’re just playing with me. Sometimes they would push me on the floor, rest their feet on if they were nice, but usually they’d just grind their feet on…”

“Bastards!” Shego hissed, interrupting and making a fist.

“Are you really surprised about the shit I tell you that my brothers and sisters did to me when I was younger?” Bonnie asked, quite seriously. Her backseat trauma was some of the milder things that the Rockweller crew did to her.

“Well… no, but they still piss me off. I should’ve kicked their asses when I had the chance!” Shego proclaimed, squeezing her fist even tighter. If she ever saw one of those Rockwaller bastards again, she silently vowed to beat the living shit out of them!  _Stupid asses don’t know how to be older siblings_.

“Um… was Hego like that… with you?” Bonnie asked while staring down at her feet. She was bit embarrassed to ask that because of how close Shego seemed with most of her family, even though Shego tried her best to make it seem like she hated everyone that ever populated the globe.

Shego was silent for a moment, catching her girlfriends’ attention. “Hego wasn’t a terror to me like your siblings were to you, especially not physically. We even tolerate each other pretty well now. I know now he wasn’t being an asshole for the sake of being an asshole… most of the time. He was confused and he allowed someone close to him to manipulate his thoughts. Still, that doesn’t excuse a lot of the things he said to me and the fact that he often purposely hurt me,” she admitted, shaking her head toward the end.

“How did he hurt you, love?” Kim asked quietly while reaching over to take one of Shego’s hands in her own. Shego gave her hand a squeeze.

Shego shook her head, trying her best to shake it off. For the longest time, she had told herself that Hadrian had never hurt her. She did not care enough for him to hurt her and she never spoke about what happened aloud. That way, it never seemed like reality and she could keep feeding herself lies. But, deep down, she knew. She knew just what her brother had done, how much it hurt, and exactly what parts of her he killed with his attitude.

“It’s all right, sweetheart,” Bonnie said, putting her hand on Shego’s shoulder. This is why she did not want to do go to this dinner or meet Hego. She did not want to have to deal with another sibling that had no regard for feelings. She wished Shego could just put Hego out of her mind. He had not been around for over a year as far as she knew and she wished things remained that way to avoid hurting their beloved anymore.

“You know, when I was little, I followed him around like a puppy. I was… well, I was Shego, his sidekick. We were practically always together. But, things started to change after a while. It turns out, the guy Hego swore was his father was feeding him a bunch of bullshit, making Hego feel like a fucking pariah or whatever the hell. Hego… he took it out on all of us, but he really shunned me. I used to wonder what the hell was wrong with me with the way he was treating me…” Shego explained, sniffling a little. The hands on her squeezed, silently reminding her that there were people there for her, people who would not judge her, people who loved her wholeheartedly.

“It’s all right, sweetheart. It’s all right,” Bonnie promised in a low voice. She held her tongue from asking if Hego did have a different father from the others. It would explain why he was the asshole of the bunch, she thought.

Shego did not respond for a moment. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down. She rarely felt such a rush of raw emotion, unless it was rage of course. But, it was in the protective orb of their relationship that she felt able to open up. She doubted she had ever bared her soul more than what she was doing right now, so yet again she was reminded of just how special her girlfriends were to her.

“He was my hero…” Shego admitted.

“But he just threw you away,” Bonnie filled in. 

“Like garbage. Now, I understand that his so-called father filled his head with all kinds of shit, but there is still part of me that just isn’t understanding.”

“You’re still that hurt little girl whose big brother let her down.”

Shego nodded and sighed. “I am, but I don’t want to be anymore. But, it’s that little girl that’s scared that her big brother isn’t going to come through, yet again. And I’m sure there’s still a part of Hego, who is that big brother who stunned me, made fun of me, and made me feel like I was wrong just for being who I was.”

“You have to have some faith, honey. Your parents said that Hego really changed and he does want to make things right with you,” Kim pointed out. She was happy to contribute to the conversation, feeling just a little left out since she was the oldest out of three in her own family. She quietly hoped she had not screwed up her brothers or let them down the way her lovers’ siblings had done to them. She would call them later and find out.

“I’m going to give him a try,” Shego vowed. She doubted they would ever be able to recapture the magic they had when they were kids and that was the true tragedy. But, they might be able to go beyond just tolerating each other. It would make family gatherings a little less weird. 

“We’ll be there with you all the way, love,” Bonnie promised and Kim nodded.

Shego smiled and wished she could kiss her girlfriends senseless at that moment. She figured she would just have to save those kisses and more for when the night was over. They might need those kisses later on anyway, especially if Hadrian proved to be the jerk she knew he could be.

The rest of the ride was spent in a comfortable silence. Kim kept Shego’s hand in hers and Bonnie kept her hand on Shego’s shoulder. After the car was turned over to a valet, the trio walked in arm-in-arm… well, Kim’s arm was locked around Shego’s and Bonnie’s arm was locked with Shego’s other arm. Shego considered herself the luckiest woman in the world-class restaurant.

“Reservations for Go,” Shego said as they stepped over to the hostess.

“Ah, yes, the other members of your party have already arrived,” the young woman informed the trio.

“Of course, because the world would stop spinning if Hadrian was even thirty seconds late,” Shego muttered under her breath.

A young waiter, who was eager to serve if his smile meant anything, led the trio to their table. Hego was easy enough to spot from a distance, especially since he looked ready to burst out of his dark blue suit. He was messing with his tie and the woman next to him – the trio assumed she was the girlfriend – swatted at his hands to get him to leave the tie alone.

None of the women said it, but they thought that Hego’s girlfriend was beautiful. Glamorous really, but not the type of woman they would go for. She had a mop of golden blond curls that fell just beyond her shoulders and shined beautifully when the light hit it at the right angle. Her skin was creamy and on display thanks to her powder blue dress with thin, spaghetti straps. Her lips where shiny and pink, but did not seem to be hers; and lips were not the only thing that did not appear to be what nature gave her, but the trio decided they would not say anything. She was not their girlfriend, after all.

“I can see why Mommy wouldn’t tell me about her when I asked…” Shego muttered. Her mother and her father had not said much on Hadrian’s girlfriend when she asked about her. She just hoped that it was not as bad a sign as she was taking it as.

“You know, I didn’t think anyone in your family went for this look,” Kim commented while they were still far enough away to not be heard.

“Maybe Mego,” Shego remarked with a smile. She could see Mego walking around with a woman who had so much plastic surgery that she looked like a doll, but he was the only one that she could picture that happening to. And she also knew Mego would not keep such a girl around for long since in Mego’s mind everything was all about him. He needed a girlfriend that would agree and had several in the past… until they eventually got fed up with him.

“Sis!” Hego grinned as he noticed the trio approaching.

Shego did not say anything and looked a bit awkward when Hego grabbed her into a hug. She did not hug him back, which caused him to laugh awkwardly when he noticed. He pulled away and then turned his attention to the ladies that flanked his sister.

“Kim, it’s good to see you again,” Hego said while reaching down to shake her hand. He did not want to risk another awkward hug.

“It is, especially without the world being in danger,” Kim agreed and she shook his hand. He laughed a little.

“And you must be Bonnie,” Hego said while turning to the lawyer and shaking her hand. Bonnie forced herself not to look disgusted as he touched her. He did not seem to notice, smiling broadly while speaking to her. “My mother sings both of your praises daily. My dad is happy that you’re taking care of Shona.”

Shego frowned a bit because of the use of her nickname, something he used to use to mock her when they were teens and something he had not called her in many years, except when he was plying her with false apologies. It bothered her that he was acting so familiar with her already, even though he was her big brother and he did help save her from making a total ass out of herself with Bonnie. Still, one good deed did not wash away years of anguish and rejection. Her nickname was supposed to only be used by those who were very close to her and he lost that right years ago.

“This is my girlfriend Tiffany,” Hego said, motioning to the blond by him. He took her hand and helped her to her feet.

The trio all managed to keep their comments to themselves, but they had a feeling they were thinking the same thing. The woman certainly looked like a “Tiffany.” They just hoped they would not be able to hear the wind as it passed through one ear and came out of the other with her.

“Good to meet you. I’m Hego’s sister Shego.” Shego extended her hand politely.

A puzzled look settled into Tiffany’s eyes, but her face did not move much. “Shego? Hadrian told me your name was Sheshona, but that Shego was a name you used when you were playing pretend games as a child,” she said in a voice that did not scream “airhead” but rather shouted “haughty.” The trio considered they were going to have to dip into their insult bags if she was going to speak down to them for the entire dinner.

“Yeah, well, I guess one of us didn’t grow up,” Shego remarked before cutting a glance at her brother. He had the decency to look down, knowing she was glaring at him because she only told those closest to her what her real name was nowadays.

“Sorry about that. I mix names a lot now,” Hadrian tried to explain with a blush burning his cheeks.

“It’s fine,” Shego waved it off, mostly because her brother looked rather embarrassed, as if he did not expect Tiffany to say what she said.

“Let’s all sit down,” Hego suggested and they all did take their seats. He then turned his attention to his girlfriend, figuring he would finish the introductions. “Tiffany, this is Shego’s girlfriend, Kim Possible. She saves the world on a regular basis.”

Kim laughed. “Well, not so regular anymore with the school and everything. Plus, people have gotten a little more competent in fighting crime, so I’m not as busy as I used to be,” she said with the humbleness her lovers and Hego expected of her. Tiffany appeared rather unimpressed.

“I can’t imagine you make much money in saving the world,” Tiffany countered. Her chin was slightly elevated as she regarded Kim, literally looking down on her face. 

“No, but it does ensure that we have some place to wake up tomorrow without worrying about whose slaves we are,” Shego chimed in. “What the hell kind of world would we live in if people only worried about the bottom line?” The question got smiles from her girlfriends and her big brother.

“Besides, I like helping. I think being kind and paying it forward goes a long way, sometimes longer than money,” Kim added.

“And this is also Shego’s girlfriend, Bonnie Rockwaller. An up and coming fierce attorney, if I am correct,” Hego said, motioning to Bonnie now.

“You are correct, sir,” Bonnie quipped with a smile. She decided he was not so bad so far, but she was still going to keep him in his “monster brother” box because of what he did to Shego mentally. 

“So, what are you, the sugar momma?” Tiffany inquired, speaking to Bonnie. Hego balked, but his sister and her ladies did not even blink.

Bonnie smiled, looking much like the devilish lawyer most people got to witness. “I can get these two to turn a few tricks,” she joked.

“Right now for the right price,” Shego added in, hoping to mortify Tiffany with that debauchery. Kim did not get a chance to chime in to try to rein her lovers in and Hego just wanted to sink into the floor at this point.

“I figured as much. I mean, how perverted can you three be?” Tiffany came right out and asked with her upper lip somewhat curled up. She shook her head at them. 

Hego groaned and hid his face in his massive palm. He really wished he could melt into a puddle and slide out of the door. He had not expected this to go so wrong so fast.

“Very for the right price,” Shego carried on with a devilish grin. She went so far as to leer at the blond across from them.

Tiffany bristled from the attention and leaned closer to Hego, apparently not realizing he just wanted to escape at this point. “Of course. You’re willing to debase yourself to share a woman when you’re women yourselves. Disgusting perverts,” she hissed. Hego really, really just wanted to fade away now.

“Excuse me, but what right do you have to call our relationship perverted? I can almost guarantee that our relationship is just as good or better than heterosexual couples. So, I think you’re way out of line,” Kim stated, her protective streak coming out full force. She glared at Tiffany in a way that would have made a wiser soul back up and run for her life.

“Oh, please, you’re what, ten? Not only is the whole thing disgusting since you’re all gay, but you’re together and apparently Shona is a pedophile,” Tiffany said with a smug look on her face.

“Whoa, you’re beyond out of line now, bitch,” Shego snapped harshly and then she turned her attention to her brother. “Hego, I thought you were going to prepare her for this, so she wouldn’t come across as the cunt Mommy and Daddy suspect her of being.”

Hadrian, Bonnie, and Kim all flinched. While they all knew Shego had a “potty mouth,” there were certain words she did not use unless she was trying to make a real point. “Cunt” was definitely on that list. It would seem that the little sister did not like the big brother’s playmate. This made Hego sit up and looked down at his girlfriend.

“Tiffany, you said you’d behave,” Hego growled, glaring at Tiffany in a manner that let them know he actually  _was_  related to Shego and Isabel.

“I thought I would, but seeing  _this_...” Tiffany hissed and motioned to the trio roughly with both of her hands. “It just shows that you’re the only normal one in your family. Your sister is a bigger pervert than your father.”

“Hego, I really hope you didn’t plan on marrying this surgery-enhanced bitch because I’m about to fry her,” Shego snarled as she held up her hands. It was one thing to insult her, but it was another thing to insult their father and to claim that Hego was the normal one out of their family. 

“Shego, wait, I agree that you have all the reason to be angry, but this is my fight,” Hego stated before turning his eyes to his girlfriend.

He regarded her with a deep seriousness that was so clear in his sapphire eyes a blind man would have seen it. Tiffany tried to ignore it and continue looking so outraged, but on the inside she withered. Hego had never looked at her in such a way, so she did not know what to do.

“Tiffany, I’m thoroughly embarrassed by your behavior. I was trying to let you into my life and hope that you would be comfortable about my family, so that we could build something together. It’s obvious that’s not going to work. You only see the superficial, not realizing how much love you’re missing out on with my family. You’ve been nothing but rude since you met my mother and father. You’ve made fun of me for loving them and for them loving me. Now, you’re acting out against my sister, which just shows how much of an asshole you are since I told you how much she means to me and I wanted us all to build a relationship. You’ve got no respect for anything in my life and I think it would be best if you just leave,” he said soundly. 

Tiffany’s mouth dropped open. Bonnie suspected her jaw landed somewhere in her lap while Kim thought her chin had made it all the way to China. Shego imitated a fish out of water for longer than she liked because she could not believe her brother was standing up for her. For a moment, she considered this might all be a trick, like Hego set this up, but she could tell when he was sincere and she could tell that he was doing that right now.

“Wha-what’re you saying?” Tiffany stuttered, eyes darting back and forth as if they were trying to understand the situation.

“I’m saying I’m done with you. You’ve done nothing but mock my family since you’ve met them. Obviously, you’re not the right girl for me if you can’t understand how important they are to me. I can’t stay with you if you’re going to stand in the way of me making things right with my family. I want them in my life and if you don’t, then you have to go,” Hego said in a deadly serious tone. 

“Hadrian, you can’t mean that. You know how I feel about you,” Tiffany replied, her voice shaking and her eyes watering. The ladies suspected if she started crying it would look like her face was melting.

“You can’t feel anything about me if you’re going to treat my family this way. I love them and you’re treating them like shit. I’ve told you over and over how important Shona’s opinion means to me and you’re calling her a pervert and a pedophile within minutes of fucking meeting her. I just can’t deal with that,” Hego informed her with a sigh. He shook his head and stared at the table for a moment, sapphire eyes glazed over with sorrow.

“Hadrian, think about everything we’ve gone through…” Tiffany begged.

“We haven’t been through things like I have with my family. I’m sorry, Tiffany, but this just isn’t going to work. I can’t let you tear my family down. It’s just not going to work,” Hego stated with a certainty that could cut steel.

Suddenly, Tiffany’s sadness was gone. Replacing her unshed tears was a burning fire. It looked like her insides were set ablaze from the way that she glared at Hadrian. She flew out of her seat, calling attention to the whole table. Her table-mates, all used to being in a scene, were not moved. 

“You’ll regret this, Hadrian. You’re nothing without me,” Tiffany snarled, pointing a threatening, well-manicured finger in his face.

“I’m pretty sure I’ll live,” Hego deadpanned.  _Wow, he is definitely Shego’s brother_ , Kim and Bonnie thought because of his expression and tone.

“Fuck you and your freakish family,” Tiffany stated before storming away. She glanced back, thinking Hego might chase after her. He did not move and just watched her leave the restaurant. He then turned his attention to his sister.

“Cute girl, if you don’t like a person that’s biodegradable,” Shego remarked. 

“I’m so sorry, sis. She promised she’d behave,” Hego said.

“Hego, where the hell did you find that Barbie doll? You couldn’t have seriously thought she’d be cool with this,” Shego declared, thinking again she might have been set up. She would never forgive her brother if he knowingly put her lovers in a place to be hurt.

“She wasn’t always like this. When we first met last year, she was a lot of fun and mellow. I don’t know what’s gotten into her lately,” Hego sighed.

“Your money maybe?” Shego proposed in a tone that implied she thought her brother was a moron, which he was as far as she was concerned.

Hego sighed again and shook his head. “I guess so. I thought introducing her to my family would prove if she was the one for me. Obviously, she’s not the one for me. I told her how important this damned dinner was and she comes out making a fool out of herself and me.”

“It’s okay, Hego. We’re still here, so you can still talk to us,” Kim pointed out with a smile.

The giant smiled, enjoying Kim’s optimism. “You’re right about that. I’m glad you’re still here. Sis, I really want to reconnect with you and I’m not going to let anyone stand in my way, not even Tiffany.”

“Were you serious in considering marrying her?” Shego inquired, glancing away at the path at Tiffany fled before turning her attention completely to her big brother. 

“I was… at first… a while ago. Things were good between us for a while and I thought we’d get back to that once she saw I was completely committed to her. I’m getting older, Shego. It’s about time for me to settle down and I should start a family,” Hego answered in low tone.

“That’s not a very good reason to get engaged,” Shego pointed out. 

“Oh, that’s easy for you to say. You’ve got two younger girlfriends that are ready to stand by you through all types of shit. I don’t have that and I’d like it,” Hego said with a raw honesty that let her know he was reaching out to her. 

“Hadrian, that’s bullshit. You don’t have to rush it. I didn’t get Kim and Bonnie by rushing into a relationship with them because I’m getting older. Things grew between us. We had a lot of bumps in the road and I’m sure we’ll have more. You have to find someone that’s going to stand with you through all the shit. Someone who feels you’re worth it to put up with both outside and inside bullshit. Not just anyone,” Shego argued.

“She’s right,” Bonnie chimed in. “You have to click with someone. We just happen to click with two someones.”

“It was work to get to this point,” Kim stressed. 

“I’m looking at you and I think about Mommy and Daddy. Hell, but the time they were my age, they had all of us,” Hego pointed out.

Sucking her teeth, Shego rolled her eyes. “Hego, first off, our parents are freaks of nature. Simple as that and you’re not that old. Since you’re a guy you’ll always be able to reproduce, so don’t rush things. And try not to bring girls around our family if they’re not ready for it. I don’t want to have to send your next girlfriend to the hospital with third degree burns,” she remarked with a teasing smile.

Hego nodded. “You’re right, you’re right. I just feel like I should be leading the way with you guys, but instead I’m always behind. I’m always the last one of us to do something. I’m supposed to be the example.”

“Hego, you’re the only one that thinks that. We’ve all grown up and we’re living our lives. We’re not competing or even copying each other. I’ve got my life, Mego has his, and the twins are probably dead in a ditch in some jungle, but the point is, we’re all our own people now. You don’t have to blaze a trail because we’re all on our own paths now,” Shego reported. She could not believe how much he clung to this idea that he was somehow supposed to be an example for them. He had not been one for a long time. 

“You always sound so wise, sis. You remind me of Mommy in that sense,” Hego commented with a playful smirk.

“Hey, fuck you. I’m nothing like that heartless bitch,” Shego replied, holding back a little laugh.

“I think it’s funny that you’ve spent your life barking at Mommy and seeming like you really wanted to take Daddy from her only to turn out to be a lesbian. A therapist would have a field day with you,” the giant commented. 

“Oh, please, like one wouldn’t have a field day with you. In fact, I think everybody at this table is more than screwed up enough for a therapist to be able to write a book on,” the pale green woman countered and she cut Kim a glance, knowing the redhead was going to speak up.

“Baby, don’t even,” Bonnie warned the hero.

“But—” Kim started. 

“Let’s see, extreme type-A personality, hero-complex, god-complex, adrenaline junkie. Need I continue?” Shego asked with a smart-ass smile on her face. 

“I do not have a god-complex,” Kim objected.

“Sure, you don’t, Pumpkin,” Shego teased. She smiled more when Bonnie started laughing.

The tension died down and things seemed calm. It was at that point their waiter appeared. He took their drink orders and then vanished, probably expecting another wave of drama.

“So, how about you tell me about the tournament you’re hosting, sis?” Hego requested. He wanted to show he was interested and he wanted Shego to believe he wanted to be informed about matters going on in her life.

“Well, that’s really Kimmie’s brainchild, so you have to direct all questions to her. I’m just there to judge and hand out medals, certificates, and belts,” Shego answered.

Hego nodded. “Okay.” He turned his attention to the redhead. “So, Kim, what’s this about a tournament?”

Kim grinned widely. “It’s a weekend event. Our students are so excited! They got their families and friends involved. Everybody’s going to have a blast. First, we’ve got demonstrations lined up, everybody showing their skills and what they’ve learned. Well, not everybody, but a good chunk of our students. They’re mostly going after getting new belts, so we’re going to be judging those. On Sunday is a real tournament. The students were hyped for that. They’re going to love it.”

“It sounds like it’s going to be fun. I can’t wait to see it,” Hego declared and then he turned back to Shego. “Sis, I’m happy you’re doing so well. I just wish I hadn’t screwed things up and have been there for you before.”

Shego waved it off. “Stop living in the past.” She could see that he was trying, which was good enough for her as far as starts went. Continuing to bring up the past and their bad blood was only serving to remind her why she did not like bothering with him, though.

Hego nodded and the conversation pressed on. The waiter came back with their drinks and was comfortable enough to stick around for their food orders. The group got along pretty well, especially since Tiffany never made a return. The ladies were a little surprised Hego did not bring up his girlfriend’s departure, but they suspected it was not the first time she left him in a restaurant. They did not see the appeal.

The group had a fairly good time, mostly thanks to Kim. Kim refused to let there be a lull in the conversation. She kept pushing the siblings to talk to each other, which Hego appreciated and Kim suspected Shego appreciated. Bonnie took her hints from Shego and conversed with Hego whenever Shego was in a comfort zone. 

“I had a very good time with you ladies,” Hego said as they all prepared to leave. The check was placed on the table and he reached for it at the same time as his sister did. “How about you leave this one for me, Shego? Consider it a goodwill gesture after the bad start to the evening,” he said.

“I don’t need you to pay for me or my girls,” Shego argued. 

“Love, just let the man pick up the check,” Kim stated firmly. She was not about to let Shego ruin what turned out to be a very good evening.

Shego frowned, but she left things as they were. The trio left Hego after the check was all paid. They decided on the same seating arrangement as before, even though Bonnie hated the backseat. They had just silently decided they would not argue about anything so as not to spoil the night.

“So, that went well, right?” Kim asked Shego as she drove home. 

“Yeah, that went pretty well,” Shego answered with a nod.

“So… are you going to start hanging out with your brother or something?” Bonnie asked curiously. 

“Hell no. It’s never going to be the same between him and me. It just can’t. This was cool and everything and maybe we’ll make it to a point where I can be in the same room with him and only want to kick his ass rather than kill him, but we’re not quite there yet,” Shego replied.

“We’ll be there, love, and support you in whatever you want your relationship to be,” Kim promised.

“Yes, we will,” Bonnie chimed in. If she could help Shego, she would. She just would also keep an eye on Hego to make sure he did not hurt her lover again. 

Shego only smiled. She could not believe how good they made her feel inside. Her girlfriends made her feel light and good. She hoped she gave them the same feeling. She knew if she did, they would be together for a good and long time.

The trio entered their home to find the place quiet. They guessed Cali was either exploring or asleep. Either way, Kim went to the kitchen and set out the meal that they brought the feline from the restaurant. Cali would eat it when she was ready, not caring if it was cold by the time she got to it. With that out of the way, they all went to their bedroom to slip into something more comfortable to relax for a couple of hours.

“Oh, Kimmie,” Bonnie purred as she turned to the redhead with a sexy smile on her face. “I do believe you said something about taking me out of this dress.”

Kim grinned and turned away from her pajama drawer. “How could I forget? Let me get that for you.” She rushed over to Bonnie. Instead of making a fuss, Shego decided to just watch the two for a while; she would get in on the action later.

-*-(New day)-*-

“I’m so excited about this!” Yori declared, bouncing on her heels. She stood with Ron, Kim, Shego, and Bonnie in the empty hall that would fill with their students and other people interested in the tournament. They were in the foyer, looking to greet their guests and students as they came in. 

“Yeah, we hadn’t noticed,” Shego remarked sarcastically. “You hop up and down a little more and you’re going to fly off into orbit.”

“I can’t help it!” Yori had never felt such pride in her life. There was just something about putting something together with just her boyfriend and good friend that struck a chord in her. Seeing how excited her students were about the weekend-event only added to the emotions already bubbling up in her, which were now all boiling over because they would be able to see the fruits of their hard work.

“Yori, I’ve never seen you like this,” Ron commented with a smile. He was happy to see that something broke through Yori’s calm demeanor. He knew working with Shego and Kim had opened Yori up a little and he was happy for that. It seemed like she was living life just a little bit more since starting her job.

Yori started to contain herself as people began arriving. Students showed up with family and friends. They all had a look around the massive hall, which was set up with bleachers and mats in the center. There were displays around for people to occupy their time before things began as well as vendors to buy food and small souvenirs. It was going to be a big event as far as they were all concerned and the setup helped prove that.

Things ran smoothly until Shego sensed a disturbance. She was not sure what it was, but chills ran down her spine for a moment. She stared into the small flow of people coming in and saw exactly what was troubling her.

“Grandma, what the hell are you doing here?” Shego inquired with a deeply shocked expression on her face. If she opened her eyes any wider, they would have fallen out of her skull.

The word “grandma” leaving Shego lips made the others turn to see what had her attention. They could easily spot Shego’s grandmother, even though they had never seen her before. Shego’s grandmother looked just like Isabel, except with blue eyes and a few more wrinkles on her face. Her tall frame was slouched over slightly due to age, but other than that, she looked very good for her age… whatever it was. Shego was never told her grandmother’s age and the others would not even venture a guess.

“I heard about this tournament shit and figured I’d see what the hell you were teaching and trying to call martial arts,” Shego’s grandmother remarked as she came up to the former thief. She glanced at the group with her granddaughter. “So, out of this riff-raff, which are the two crazy enough to date you?” 

Shego laughed a little. “Grandma, meet my girlfriends, Kim Possible and Bonnie Rockwaller,” she said while putting her arms around her lovers. “Loves, meet my grandmother Isabella Han.”

Kim and Bonnie were gracious and shook Isabella’s hand, but they did not get to say anything. As soon as the name reached Yori’s brain, she had to jump in.

“Wait a minute, your last name is Han?” the ninja asked Shego and then she turned to Shego’s grandmother. “And you are Isabella Han?” She looked ready to explode at that very moment. All she needed was one word of confirmation and she would be totally gone.

Shego palmed her face. “Yori, don’t make a thing out of this. It doesn’t mean shit. Besides, my grandmother isn’t even the Han you like,” she said without really thinking that out.

“But, her name…” Yori trailed off and her eyes widened as realization dawned on her. It was like she just figured out the secrets of the universe. “Oh, you are her mother! I have heard of you!” And then even more realization as she turned to Shego. “Then that means…!”

“No, I’m not related to her at all,” Shego lied, knowing Yori had figured the whole thing out. Yori arched a skeptical eyebrow and glared at the green-skinned woman, not planning to accept that response.

“I’m not sure what’s going on here and I don’t really want to know,” Isabella said with a bluntness that Shego expected and that did not surprise the others. “Your aunt and your cousin are coming with your mother. Tell them to find me or else,” she instructed Shego.

“Yes, Grandma,” Shego said with a nod and Isabella walked off to go find the perfect seat.

“Shego… how old is your grandmother?” Kim asked. Isabella looked much younger than her own grandmother, who was somewhere in her seventies as far as Kim knew.

Shego shrugged. “Fuck if I know. There were certain things we didn’t ask my grandmother growing up. ‘How old are you, Grandma’ was definitely on the list because she’d probably tell us it was none of our fucking business before throwing water balloons at us. Besides, we didn’t give a shit anyway. To us, Grandma’s old. Simple as that.”

The group chuckled a bit. Before they could say anything about how normal Shego seemed sometimes or inquire more about Shego’s family, the rest of Shego’s family suddenly showed up. It was easy to know they were coming; they were loud and profane. Four sets of eyes glanced at Shego, who just watched the lobby, waiting for the Go crew to arrive.

“The fuck, man! We could totally beat the shit outta anybody in your school!” Shego knew that was one of the twins and she suspected they were speaking to their cousin.

“Highly improbable, cousin.” Shego knew that was the smooth, always-calm voice of younger cousin.

“Dude, our mom can fuck up your whole school! She’s proved it time and time again and she taught us!” one of the twins replied.

Shego saw she was right in her assumptions as her baby brothers and younger cousin came into view before the rest of her family. The sight of her family got another reaction from Yori. The ninja could not believe her eyes as the three young men approached Shego. She was not alone in this one, though. Bonnie and Kim looked like their eyes were about to fall out of their heads, too.

“Hirotaka, what’re you doing here?” Bonnie managed to ask. She almost stammered, but she was able to control herself. She could not fix her face from her shock, though. Kim’s face was not much better. 

“You know Hirotaka?” Shego asked. She arched an eyebrow, not enjoying the stunned looks her lovers sported.

“Bonnie,” Hirotaka said with a charming smile that earned a very scary growl from Shego, who moved in front of Bonnie. 

“You know Bonnie?” Shego demanded, glaring at the handsome ninja.

“Cuz, Bonnie is one of Shego’s girlfriends,” Wes whispered into Hirotaka’s ear, hoping to avoid getting his cousin splattered against the wall. 

Hirotaka gulped and then gave a nervous laugh. “Um… I met Bonnie and Kim a very long time ago…” he replied, silently praying to anyone listening for Shego to spare him a plasma strike.

Emerald green eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. “Met how?” she pressed. 

“Shego, calm down. It was a long time ago,” Bonnie said, grabbing Shego by the hand and caressing her knuckles. She did not want Shego to start a fight when they had such a big event about to go down.

“Hiro, I will beat your ass if you fucked one of my girls,” Shego vowed in a hard tone, pointing a threatening finger at him.

“No! I swear it didn’t go that far!” Hirotaka promised, hands up in a gesture of surrender. He knew that would not work, but it was the first thing to came to mind considering how pissed off Shego was. 

“No, but you probably strung them along with the hope that it would go that far, you ass. I should fuck you up just for that shit!” Shego declared, pointing at her cousin again. A suspicious green smoke charged out of her finger for a brief moment.

“Shona, you better not be tormenting my baby, you big bully!”

Shego tore her eyes from Hirotaka to look up at the owner of the voice. Her aunt approached with the rest of her family. Her aunt was a petite blonds and glaring at her in a way that she knew was learned from Isabella. It had the desired effect, pausing Shego for just a moment and Hirotaka relaxed, as if his mother was going to come to his rescue.

“Auntie, I’m going to shove your baby’s head up his ass if he touched my girlfriends with his grubby mitts at any point in his history,” Shego announced. 

“I didn’t!” Hirotaka declared while raising his hands in surrender once again.

“Like I believe a womanizing bastard like you!” Shego huffed.

“Why do I have to be womanizing?” Hirotaka muttered while folding his arms across his chest. Why was it never a pleasant day when he and his cousins got together?

“Um… Shego, what’s going on here?” Kim asked the question on everyone’s minds.

“That’s the question I should be asking. Why the hell do you two know my idiot slut of a cousin?” Shego countered while motioning to Hirotaka.

“Hirotaka is your cousin? Talk about a small world,” Bonnie murmured, blowing out a breath. Boy, was she ever thankful she had not slept with him way back when! Of course, she had been thankful for that before since she knew it would have been a mistake since she was a lesbian and attracted to Kim – not that she knew those things then – but, now she was even more thankful.

“Yes, Hirotaka is my cousin. That’s his mother, right there.” Shego motioned to her short, blond aunt. “That’s my aunt Victoria. Vic, why the hell didn’t you leave Hiro with his father? You never bring around the good cousin.”

“You should know better than to try to take a little girl from her daddy,” Victoria remarked with a smile.

“Does the Electra thing just run in your family?” Kim teased Shego.

“I do  _not_  have an Electra complex,” Shego huffed. 

“How about you stop pouting and just introduce us around the group?” Victoria suggested with a teasing smile.

Shego growled and frowned, but she started the introductions anyway. “First off, everybody this is my Aunt Victoria and Hirotaka is her bratty son. Yori, I think you know Hirotaka.”

“I do indeed, even though he and I never really spoke to each other at school,” Yori replied.

“Good. Ron, you can be assured that my cousin didn’t try to fuck your girlfriend. If only I could be the same,” Shego remarked.

“Shego!” Bonnie and Kim snapped.

“Fine, fine, fine. Hiro and Yori went to the same ninja school, so that’s how they sort of know each other. Anyway, on to the rest of the merry lot. The twins are Wes and Wen. It’s impossible to tell them apart if you don’t share DNA with them, so just call them Wego.” The aforementioned baby brothers grinned and shook hands with their sister’s group, even though they knew everyone except Yori.

“We could kick your school’s ass,” Wes informed Yori while shaking her hand.

“Which school are you referring to?” Yori asked diplomatically.

“Both!” Wes grinned as if it was obvious.

“Stop being annoying,” Shego ordered her brother. She swatted at him, but did not come close to hitting him. He grinned.

“Oh, so you want him to stop being alive, too? I thought I was alone in that,” Mego remarked with a teasing smile.

Shego rolled her eyes. “That’s Mego or Matteo. Not sure which one he’s going by this week.”

Mego sneered. “Well, I’m just trying to keep up with you. After all, we don’t know if you’re Sheshona, Shona, Shego, or little Izzie.” He just waved to everyone instead of going through the rounds.

“You’re pushing it, Matt,” Shego growled and then she turned her attention away from him, knowing that would hurt him more than any insult. She motioned to her big brother for Yori. “That behemoth is my brother Hadrian or Hego.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Hego said to Yori since she was the only one he did not know in the group.

“Lastly, this is my father, Kane Go,” Shego said while motioning to her father. “Daddy, this is Kim’s best friend Ron Stoppable, but I call him the buffoon. And somehow he got lucky enough to land Yori at a moment where I’m sure she was brain-damaged.”

“Shego!” Kim scolded the older woman.

“Anyway! Yori is the other teacher in the school. She handles ninjutsu and monkey kung-fu, so don’t try to grab her ass, Daddy, or she will kill you,” Shego warned her lecherous father. Kane had the nerve to look innocent, as if he would never do such a thing.

“Shona, your lack of faith in me wounds me so!” Kane proclaimed dramatically. His wife and daughter rolled their eyes.

“Uh… Shego… you seem to be forgetting someone,” Yori pointed out. She noticed Shego did not introduce the tall woman standing next to Kane.

“She’s not important,” Shego said, waving her mother off. For once, she was not being bitchy toward Isabel, but actually trying to avoid Yori embarrassing herself.

“Isabel Go, Shego’s mother,” Isabel said, extending her hand to the kunoichi.

Yori gulped hard as she reached over to shake Isabel’s hand while also suppressing the urge to bow. Her breathing went out of control and she could not get out the question that she wanted to ask. Ron regarded her strangely, never having seen her react to anything in such a manner. He wondered what was going on with Yori, especially when she did not seem ready to let go of Isabel’s hand after a handshake that was clearly over.

“Yori?” Ron said. “Uh… why is Yori going through the blue screen of death?” he asked, waving a hand in front of Yori’s face with hope of getting her attention. He got no reaction.

“Yori’s a fan, Mommy,” Shego explained, even though Isabel guessed that from the dazed look in the ninja’s face.

“Ah, she’s probably seen a few fights with me busting your hubby’s ass at her school,” Isabel said to Victoria, who growled. Isabel elbowed her and grinned.

“Watch it, or she’ll see me busting your ass,” the blond sister replied.

“Yori, I appreciate your adoration, but I do need the hand back if I’m going to see this tournament you poured all of your energy into,” Isabel remarked with a gentle smile.

“Oh, right! I do apologize! It’s just… I had never seen a woman fight the way you do, Han-sama,” Yori stated as she finally let go of Isabel’s hand. She then bowed to the taller woman. She just could not help it.

“Please, call me Isabel. And try not to say ‘Han’ in front of my husband. He doesn’t know I sneak off and go by my family name when he’s not around,” Isabel quipped, continuing to smile.

“Please, I’m shocked you didn’t make me change my family name,” Kane joked while putting his arm around his wife.

“I am honored to be in your presence,” Yori said, still obviously in awe of Isabel.

“I’m the one who’s honored. Not only do you work with my daughter and haven’t gone insane, but you talked her into doing something I know she was dead set against,” Isabel remarked.

“You know, instead of getting on my case, why don’t you go wander into the main hall where  _Grandma_  is waiting for you?” Shego suggested with a smirk.

“No, how could you let that devil woman in?” Victoria shouted dramatically while throwing her head back as if she was going to faint. Isabel was quiet, but her entire body tensed for a moment.

Unlike their mothers, the boys rushed off to go see their grandmother. Victoria and Isabel shook their heads, but followed their sons. Kane went along since he had no desire to remove his arm from around Isabel.

“Charming family you got there, Shego,” Ron teased.

“Hey, they might be crazy, but they could kick your monkey-ass any day of the week,” Shego countered.

“Touché,” Bonnie snickered.

“Hey, and don’t think either of you is off the hook,” Shego said to her girlfriends. “Now, seriously, did either of you fuck Hiro?”

“Um… I wanted to…” Kim admitted. “I was sixteen and he was hot!” she quickly defended herself. “Oh, and I didn’t know I was a lesbian!”

“Well, I had the chance and didn’t because I was a lesbian,” Bonnie said with a smug smile. She was not totally sure at the time, but she was never physically inclined to go that far with any guy.

Shego arched an eyebrow. “You had the chance?”

Ron and Yori decided to disappear because of the personal conversation going on. Besides, it was almost time to get the event started. The trio barely noticed they were left alone, but they took advantage of that to continue their conversation.

“I worked my charms and Hirotaka seemed to like me,” Bonnie answered with a shrug. She had to work her charm in overdrive and seem more like a tease than usual, but it kept him away from Kim and that was what was important, not she had ever revealed that as her motivation.

“Yeah, well, usually when he seems to like a girl, they end up on their backs or with their asses in the air. He didn’t try that with either of you?” Shego asked, concern breaking through her angry eyes.

“Shego, love, it was a long time ago. We were sixteen. All the guys hanging around us were trying that,” Bonnie pointed out.

“Save Ron,” Kim chimed in.

“Hell, if it wasn’t for Yori I would think Ron is a gay as we are,” Shego remarked.

“I think you’re taking this so hard because Hirotaka is your cousin. It was a long time ago and he didn’t get anywhere with either of us. So, you should just let it go,” Kim said logically.

“Yes, don’t stress yourself out over something so long ago,” Bonnie replied.

Before Shego could respond to that, their little discussion was broken up by someone screaming “Shona!” Shego turned, wondering who the hell would be using her nickname. She hoped that nobody else from her family was coming in. Then she saw who approached and she could not help smiling.

“Jennifer, what the hell are you doing back in this country, let alone this fucking city?” Shego inquired to one of her oldest and dearest friends.

Brown eyes sparkled as the woman came up to Shego. She was the same height that Shego recalled from high school, which she always just put down as “short.” Jennifer was a woman of average height. Her hair was bleached blonde and spiked now, which was a new look for her. She was dressed in a cream-colored pantsuit. She would have looked professional if it was not for the hair.

“I had to come and show my favorite evil-doer some love,” Jennifer commented with a smile.

Shego rolled her eyes. “No, seriously, tell me what you’re doing here.” 

“That is the truth. Your mother told me about this thing and since I’m not just in the country, but living not too far from here now, I had to come and support you, Shona,” Jennifer replied, patting Shego on the shoulder.

Shego arched an eyebrow. “You’re back in the country?”

“Yeah, finally got transferred back. It was a little too late for my marriage, but better late than never,” Jennifer remarked.

“You’re divorced now?” Shego asked incredulously.

“Oh, Pete left me on the first thing with wings after the first year aboard. I think he would’ve stuck it out if only the company could figure out what country they want me to stay in. He wasn’t keen on moving every three months, though.” Jennifer shrugged. “But, that’s history. We’re still good friends and everything. Hell, he introduced me to Julie.”

“Wife?” Shego guessed with a smirk.

Jennifer smiled. “She’s trying to be. She’s stuck around with me for two years and four countries. So, what about you? Married yet?”

Shego laughed. “Twice in a way.” She motioned to her girlfriends. “My lovers Bonnie Rockwaller and Kim Possible.” 

“Oh, two girls at once,” Jennifer said with a smile as she turned to the younger women. “Nice to meet you, ladies. I’m Jennifer. I knew Shona before she even knew she was into girls.”

“Oh, so you knew her in the womb?” Kim joked, which got a chuckle from both Jennifer and Bonnie. 

Jennifer rolled her eyes. “Oh, please, she was oblivious about her sexuality for years. The stories I can tell you two.”

“Yeah, well, you can tell them later. Right now, we have to get this show on the road,” Shego declared. Really, she wanted to move Jennifer along before the older female started talking. The last thing she wanted was for Kim and Bonnie to know how she was in high school.

Jennifer laughed, knowing she was dismissed. She promised Kim and Bonnie stories for later on. She also made it a point to give Shego a “we have to talk” look. She was curious how Shego managed to get two girlfriends. She was all right with it, but she had to hear how two people could possibly put up with her dear friend’s quirks.

The trio stayed out in the front for a little while longer to greet people. Monique surprised them by showing up. They did not know she was in the state at the time. She just smiled at them.

“Now, you know I have to make time for my favorite kung-fu masters and their kick ass school,” Monique remarked with a smile. “I hope this thing gets you guys the notice that you deserve.” 

Shego rolled her eyes. “I hope all of the photographers don’t go to the kids’ heads.”

“Please, your kids are probably too high to even notice there are cameras,” Bonnie quipped.

Shego could not argue that one and did not bother to try. After Monique went to find a seat, the trio decided that they needed to move on. There were plenty of things to do and not enough time to do them in. Kim was not even around to greet her family, but they managed to connect with Shego’s family, so it was all right. The Possibles had run behind schedule because they had to get Wade at the last minute.

-8-8-8-8-

The weekend event was started off with Bonnie. Shego and Kim thought it was appropriate for their first student to show her skills and open the tournament. Bonnie took a deep breath as she looked around, seeing hundreds of eyes on her. She was surprised to find her heart beating rapidly and breathing was a little difficult. She did not want to embarrass her lovers in front of so many people, especially considering she knew there were a few magazines covering the event.

While waiting for her music to begin, Bonnie brushed imaginary lint from her outfit. Since the school did not insist on uniforms, even for the tournament, she had been left to her own devices. She went with a dark pink tank top and black shorts that barely went passed the middle of her thigh. The outfit was picked to show off how powerful her body looked from her training and working out.

“Wow, Bonnie’s actually got some muscle there,” Ron muttered in shock. He knew she was toned, which he expected, but seeing muscular cuts was something different. 

The music started and Bonnie struck her first fierce pose, holding a long bo out while she was at it. Ron and Wade actually jumped a little. Bonnie moved and worked with a staff on her routine, mostly to feel closer to Kim. Kim’s main short-range weapon was the bo and she had taken a lot of time to train Bonnie with it.

Bonnie’s movements were graceful and sharp. She was much more tense than her teachers would ever be, but it seemed to be more a part of her style than anxiety. She was purposely flexing on each movement, wanting to call attention to her developing muscles. Her motions, deliberate and tight, went along with the music and incorporated her dance background. Only when the beat changed did her body do the same.

“Do you think the dance was her idea?” Kim asked, leaning close into Shego, unable to keep a smile off of her face.

“Maybe,” Shego replied with a shrug. She knew her mother’s teaching technique. Isabel liked to encourage students to do bring in their outside knowledge, which was why Mego’s style had so many wrestling moves in it.

When the music switched from a hip-hop style to more of a dance mix, Bonnie loosened up. It was clearly part of her routine, but it was smoothly done. Her pace increased and the movement of her staff became wilder, but controlled. She spun the staff often and moved fluidly with it. 

“That girl is good,” Monique whispered to Ron, who nodded in agreement. He looked rather shocked, not expecting Bonnie to be as neat and precise as she was.

“She’s got potential, but she’s probably too old to do any real damage now,” Isabella commented to no one in general. 

“Yes, she probably would be on Kim’s level if she trained when she was younger, but Kim and Shego really just want to be sure that she can protect herself. Bonnie is definitely not the fighter in their group,” Isabel said to her mother.

Isabella nodded. “She came up with this one her own?”

“I assisted her, but for the most part she did it on her own. Her movements are sometimes forced and you can tell she’s thinking each move out, but she’s doing good for someone who hasn’t been learning martial arts on a consistent basis,” Isabel pointed out. 

“Who knew little Izzie could actually teach!” Victoria remarked with a teasing grin that earned her a glare from Isabel.

“Don’t start with that little Izzie bullshit,” Isabel hissed.

“Aw, but both little Izzies are here for us to do,” Victoria said, looking at Shego. Shego and Isabel growled and glared the blond down. It was a little funny and very scary to see.

Everyone else was quiet while watching Bonnie move. Her competency caught everyone that knew her by surprise. It was clear she paid a lot of attention to Kim and Shego whenever she could manage to get a lesson from them. Sometimes her schedule did not permit a lesson for weeks at a time. 

“I don’t think I look that good when working a bo,” Ron muttered as Bonnie leaped up, catching a lot of air, twisting, and bringing the bo down with impressive strength.

“Trust me, you don’t,” Shego remarked.

“You’re not even looking at her work. You’re watching her ass,” he accused Shego.

Shego did not argue that point. She silently admitted her mother did a good job coaching Bonnie. Isabel obviously did not take away any points that Bonnie learned or try to add some of her own style into the routine. The whole thing was all Bonnie.

Kim reached over and took Shego’s hand into her. Kim’s eyes were transfixed on Bonnie as if she was hypnotized. Kim was stunned by what she was seeing. She never realized how much they had taught Bonnie because the lessons always came so sporadically.

Shego glanced over and noticed how taken in Kim was. She wrapped her arm around the redhead and smiled down at her while turning her attention back to Bonnie. When the lawyer was done, Kim shot to her feet and clapped the loudest in the whole audience, even though it was hard to tell since everyone was applauding.

Bonnie took a bow and trotted out of the ring. Shego, Kim, and Yori then made their way down to the ring to say a few opening words. They made sure to keep it brief, for their students’ sake. After that, Ron announced the next routine. The weekend event was underway!

-8-8-8-8-

“Shona, when you put together a show, you really put together a show!” Victoria declared as the hall emptied out after the first day of the tournament. The Han and Go families stuck around to talk to the event organizers.

“I didn’t do shit for this thing except give over a debit card and show up for today. You want to praise people…” Shego pointed to Kim and Yori. “Go at them until your throat is sore. This was all their hard work.”

“Hey! I helped, too!” Ron pointed out with a grin. His family had shown up, but had to leave once everything was over to make it to another engagement. They had praised Yori earlier.

“You two did one hell of a job. I can’t wait to see what happens tomorrow when the fighting actually goes down. Those were some kick-ass demos!” Victoria proclaimed. 

“They were awesome! Especially the lil guys,” Wes chimed in.

“We taught them that stuff!” Wen said.

“The hell you did! You taught them for a little while a lot of months ago! Don’t try to take Kimmie’s credit!” Shego growled and slapped her little brothers in the backs of their heads. Kim did not even bother pointing out that she was very skeptical any teaching went on with the Wegos while they were on vacation. 

“You’re a good teacher to get so much out of those children,” Isabel said to Kim.

“They’re very dedicated. To a frightening degree sometimes,” the hero remarked. 

“They creep the hell out of me,” Shego stated and she shuddered.

“Firefly, you’re quite the surprise, too. You get a lot out of your sex-addicts and stoners,” Isabel teased.

“Firefly,” Kim and Bonnie snickered. Ron chimed in with a laugh of his own as he realized that was Isabel’s pet name for Shego. Monique, who was with them, even smiled a little bit. Yori was the only one who controlled herself, but she chuckled on the inside.

“Mommy!” Shego snarled. Now she was never going to hear the end of that horrible nickname! Ron would use it every time they got into a little spat, she was sure of that, and she was right in that assumption because he was already mentally making plans for it. 

“I never knew that you had it in you to teach, Shona,” Isabella commented.

Shego’s face scrunched up. “Why’d you say that, Grandma? Hans always teach.”

“I suppose I should say I never knew you had it in you to teach a group like that. They seem like they would require a lot of patience,” Isabella corrected herself.

“I’m sure you know that a little anger goes a long way,” Shego quipped.

Isabella nodded. “That would explain it. I think I might have to visit your little school more often. This place has a lot of potential and you need to give it your all.”

“I will, Grandma,” Shego promised. It was more than a ringing endorsement on their school if her grandmother did not tear it to shreds with her words. 

“Funny, if your mother told you that, you’d have told her to go fuck herself,” Bonnie said to Shego. The earnest observation earned laughs from Isabella’s grandsons.

“She knows you well, Shona,” Jennifer commented as she strolled over to join the group.

“Oh, don’t you come over here and start shit, too,” Shego snorted.

Jennifer flashed a smile, showing she was ready to get in on teasing Shego any day of the week. Jennifer and Shego started to go back and forth with each other, like the old friends they were. They earned laughs from everyone around, including Bonnie, who had a good time being complimented by Shego’s family members as well as the Possibles.

Bonnie happened to glance in the direction of one of the exits and saw someone she was not ready to deal with – her brother Johnnie. She did not want to try interacting with him and she did not want to risk Kim seeing him because Kim was very likely to wave him over. But, he smiled at her and she managed a smile in return before turning her attention back to the group.

“Look, instead of us all hanging out here, attracting attention and tempting people to call the police, how about we go to our house?” Bonnie suggested. 

“Party at Shona’s place!” the twins howled and they charged off for the door, knowing exactly how to get to their sister’s home.

“Damn it, you two better not break anything!” Shego snarled. 

“Oh, I haven’t seen your place yet,” Mego commented with a smile.

“Then let’s go,” Shego sighed and motioned to the door. “You all keep your mitts to yourselves when you get there, though!”

The large group made their way out of the hall through the main entrance. Bonnie glanced back a few times, seeing that her brother was still standing there. She was glad Johnnie did not approach her. She just was not up to dealing with her family, even if this family was trying to make amends for past crimes.

-8-8-8-8-

“Wow, this is a sweet setup,” Mego muttered as the group entered the apartment. “Of course, my apartment is way better, but this isn’t bad.” 

Shego rolled her eyes and was glad her lovers knew to ignore Mego. Everyone made themselves comfortable in the apartment. Cali crept out of one of her hiding places to inspect what was going on around her home. She slowly made her way around, looking for one of her humans – preferably Kim – to feel some safety. She leaped into the hero’s arms as soon as she spotted her on the sofa.

“Since when do you guys have a cat?” Monique inquired.

“A strange cat,” Yori chimed in.

“Very strange,” Hirotaka concurred as he stared at the feline, who was getting her money’s worth reclining in Kim’s lap.

“She’s our special little kitten,” Kim declared, scratching behind Cali’s ears and under her chin. Cali almost rolled off of her lap thanks to the attention. “She’s also not very used to crowds, especially at home.”

The group continued socializing with each other, going over what happened that day and speculating about the fighting tomorrow. Everyone made it a point to heap praise on Bonnie every now and then, thoroughly impressed with her performance. Bonnie was very happy to accept the praise, but said very little throughout the night. She mostly watched as Kim’s family and Shego’s family intermingled and enjoyed each other’s company. They accepted each other – and they accepted her. 

Her thoughts drifted to the Rockwaller family. People who never treated her right, for no reason she could ever guess or that they ever shared, but they were her relatives by blood. Yet, these people, the Gos and the Possibles, people who had no relation to her other than the fact that she was dating their daughters, treated her with such respect and care. She felt like she was one of them. She never really felt that with the Rockwallers.

Suddenly, she recalled seeing Johnnie at the tournament. She knew what he wanted, but for some reason she just could not bring herself to try to build a relationship with him. He had hurt her as much as her other siblings. His only redeeming quality to her was that Kim liked him. Kim rarely made it a point to like completely immoral, unethical jerks.

With that in mind, Bonnie glanced over at Hego, who was making conversation with Shego and Kim. He seemed like an immoral jerk with the way he messed with Shego’s mind, but it seemed like they were both trying to push through that. She wondered if family was worth it.

“You seem to be deep in thought,” Ann commented as she took a seat next to Bonnie on the long couch. 

“I was just wondering… about family,” Bonnie admitted.

“What were you wondering?” Ann asked. 

“Well, Shego’s trying to patch things up with her brother, who wrecked their relationship and messed with her mind when they were younger. He says he’s grown up and wants things to be different between them now and she’s giving him that chance.”

“Well, from what I’ve seen family means a lot to Shego, even though she doesn’t really admit it,” the neurosurgeon pointed out.

“I know that. Sometimes when I see her and Kimmie with all of you guys, I think about how lucky they are and then I realize how lucky I am because I’m part of this, too, now.”

Ann nodded. “But, that wasn’t happiness on your face a moment ago.”

“I know it wasn’t. I was just thinking about my own brother. He was a total ass to me, much like my other siblings and I’m sure just like Hego was to Shego…” 

“And you’re wondering if you should forgive him like Shego is trying to do with Hego?” Ann guessed.

Bonnie nodded and looked down, so that the doctor could not see the sorrow in her eyes. “I love having you all as my family, but…” 

“It’s all right, Bonnie.” Ann tossed her arm around the younger woman’s shoulders. “It’s not a bad thing to try to make a new start with your brother. But, is he willing to give it a try?”

“I think so…” Bonnie sniffled.

“Then why punish both of you by not meeting him halfway? It’s not like you have to forgive him the moment you see him. You just have to take small steps and one day hopefully you’ll be able to look him in the eye and realize you do forgive him. It’s a process. I’m sure Shego would tell you that.” 

Bonnie nodded. “I know what side of the family Kim gets her smarts from,” she remarked with a grin.

“Oh, you.” Ann took a moment to hug the lawyer. 

From that moment on, Bonnie was able to go back to enjoying the company. She found herself next to Jennifer, who Kim was just egging on to tell all sorts of stories about Shego. Shego had fled the area, retreating into the game room to be spared some embarrassment.

“That girl is always into something,” Isabella commented after Jennifer finished yet another tale about Shego. 

“I didn’t help much. I was always right behind her,” Jennifer remarked.

“Hell, sometimes you were the driving force,” Isabel chimed in.

Jennifer grinned proudly. “Shona was so easy to influence! She did some outrageous things for even more outrageous reasons. Hell, she almost got us arrested once when we went out to dinner. I dared her to touch the waitress’ ass and this kid slaps her like a fucking horse!” 

“Sometimes, I wish you two did normal teenage things, like drink and smoke,” Isabel joked while shaking her head.

“That’s boring. Going to jail for sexually harassing a waitress, now that’s fun!” Jennifer laughed. 

Jennifer stuck around the place after everyone else cleared out; it was by request of all three owners. They gathered in the living room, flopping down on various pieces of furniture. Cali came out of nowhere and decided to take a nap in Shego’s lap, so she would not be left out.

“I never figured you for a cat person, Shona,” Jennifer commented.

“I’m not really. Kim brought home this stray and she just grew on us,” Shego replied with a shrug. 

“Sort of like I did with you,” Jennifer quipped, smiling all the way through. Shego rolled her eyes.

“How did you meet Shego anyway? You guys seem like extremely close friends,” Bonnie noted. 

“Believe it or not, I was being attacked in a park and was saved by this angry, antisocial malcontent, who beat up I think three guys to save me. Then, I spooked her by kissing her a thank you,” Jennifer said, chuckling at the memory.

“You didn’t spook me!” Shego growled.

“She ran off like her ass was on fire. After that, we found out that we were in the same math class. She was a smart kid, taking advanced math as a freshman,” Jennifer complimented her friend.

“Advanced math?” Kim and Bonnie turned to look at Shego. It was not surprising, but it was. They knew Shego was smart, but they did not think it was something she applied while in school.

“Yeah, Shona was a regular little genius. All of her classes were advanced and she graduated a year early. Knowing her now, I’m sure she doesn’t brag about those things,” Jennifer said.

“No, she really doesn’t,” Kim replied. Hell, they would not even know that Shego had a college degree if she had not subbed at Middleton High so many years ago.

“Yeah, well, Shona was brilliant in high school. I can’t say she applied those smarts to the right area after college, though,” Jennifer said, giving her friend a pointed look. The look earned her a very rude gesture from Shego involving her middle finger.

“You don’t know what I did,” Shego replied.

“I know enough to guess you didn’t do the right thing after college,” Jennifer stated.

“No, she didn’t, but that’s how we met and she’s reformed now,” Kim said with a smile.

“I’m sure she is. Two hot girlfriends would reform anybody, especially if they bend well,” Jennifer teased.

“Oh, shut up, Jen!” Shego snorted, but the grin on her face let them now that she was not being very serious.

“So, you kissed Shego in high school? Is that how you figured out you were into girls?” Bonnie asked Shego. Bonnie was tempted to fly off the handle, just to show Shego how it felt when she flipped out over exes, but she would much rather hear more about Shego as a teenager.

“No, that’s not how I figured it out and, Jennifer, you better not tell that story,” Shego ordered.

Jennifer had the nerve to look innocent. “Me? Tell a story to embarrass you? I would never!”

Kim and Bonnie laughed. “If only all exes could be so funny and likable,” Bonnie remarked.

“Oh, I’m not an ex. I never dated Shego. That impulsive kiss during our meeting was the only time our lips ever met,” Jennifer explained. 

“Did you know any of Shego’s old girlfriends?” Bonnie asked.

Jennifer shook her head. “As far as I know, Shona didn’t get a real girlfriend until I was gone.”

“No girl wanted to date me. They thought I was with you,” Shego pretended to sneer. She could not believe she said that. Over the years, she changed from the person that Jennifer knew, but being around her in person and with her girlfriends there brought out a side of Shego that she long thought was dead. 

“Well, you only talked to people if I was around and making conversation and you practically went everywhere with me. What were they supposed to think, smart-ass?” Jennifer pointed out with a good-natured smile.

“That I was too cool to date a loser like you, doy!” Shego countered. 

Jennifer rolled her eyes. “Please, I would’ve been a step up compared to the girls you fooled around with, but who the hell wants to put up with your shit all the time?”

“You did,” Shego stated smugly. 

Jennifer laughed and turned to Kim and Bonnie. “She’s got me there. I harassed Shona for the whole time we were in high school together. I even threatened to transfer to her school for college. She must’ve taken me seriously because she never did tell me where she graduated from.”

“I wasn’t trying to chance anything. Knowing you, you would’ve followed me,” Shego sneered. 

“I probably would’ve. You’re always loads of fun, Shona.” Jennifer’s smile was sincere and bright.

“God, I would’ve run screaming into the night!” Shego declared. 

Jennifer rolled her eyes. “Oh, please, you love me, Shona, you know that.” Her attention went to Kim and Bonnie and they could tell from the twinkle in her eye that she was about to share more classified information. “When I first left, Shona tried to act like she was glad to see me go, so I let her sweat for a little while. I didn’t call her for almost a month. She damn near burst into tears when I finally got in contact with her!”

“You were the one crying!” Shego accused her old friend.

Jennifer smiled, looking quite unashamed of the truth. “I was crying. You made me cry a lot! I missed your insane, antisocial ass! What was I supposed to do without my angry little shadow with me?” 

Shego scowled. “You’re an idiot.”

“I know you love me, Shona. I am the big sister you never had.” 

“And didn’t want,” Shego added, but that did not take away Jennifer’s smile.

“You can imagine why I missed her so much,” Jennifer remarked, looking quite amused. Kim and Bonnie laughed again.

“You two must have been quite the pair,” Kim commented with a smile. She could picture them being a crazier, version of herself and Ron. 

“We tried. Well, I mostly just encouraged the naughty streak in Shona. I damn sure never tried any of the stuff I dared her to do,” Jennifer said. “Poor Shona was just too young to realize I was taking advantage of her.”

“Why don’t you go home already,” Shego suggested with a false huff. 

Before Jennifer could respond to that, Bonnie perked up. Her brow furrowed just a little, making it look like a light bulb went off in her head. Shego looked just a little nervous, hoping whatever hit Bonnie was not going to be too personal.

“Since you’ve known Shego for so long, have you met her former girlfriend Medea?” Bonnie asked. 

“Never had the pleasure, which I’m sure was great. I haven’t heard good things about her,” Jennifer replied.

“You talked to my parents, didn’t you?” Shego inquired. 

“Not to mention listened to you bitch about her most of the time you were in the relationship with her. You were so pissed that she was so closeted!” Jennifer reminded her dear friend.

“God, she was! That day Hego found us, she was so fucking out of her mind. I didn’t even want to deal with that shit,” Shego stated.

“That explains the great resistance you put up when she broke things off with you. Did you even let her break up with you or did you just run off laughing as soon as you figured out what she was trying to do?” Jennifer joked. 

“I cursed her out a little bit to save face, but other than that, I felt like the shackles were off. I damn near ran back to school after that. Best Christmas gift ever,” Shego said with a smile.

“You would think that,” Jennifer said while shaking her head. “Now, you have to tell me how you ended up with two hot girls.”

Shego smiled and wasted no time going into that story. Kim and Bonnie did chime in often, giving their perspectives on the story. They stayed up until late that night just talking. Jennifer ended up staying in their guest room. She was the first person to do so.

-8-8-8-8-

The next day at the tournament was similar to the day before. The audience was full and cheering. There were flashes going off for each match. Some of them were professional photographers, but they were mostly friends and family taking pictures of the fighters. Ron’s family came back. Shego’s family and Kim’s family were there, of course. Shego’s family did a lot of critiquing and criticizing, but all and all, they had a good time.

At the end of the day, one of Yori’s students won the tournament, but she used a “Shego” tactic to do. Shego was ashamed that one of her students actually fell for “look, sensei lost her top.” That split second decided the match. Shego wished she could at least be certain her student would not be fooled by that trick again, but she highly doubted it. 

“Sensei lost her top?” Kim teased.

“Shut up,” Shego grumbled, shaking her head. She did not know what she was going to do with those idiots. 

Just like the day before, the Go and Possible families stood around talking once everything was said and done. They even helped clean up. Bonnie glanced over at a corner and saw  _him_  again. She took a deep breath and looked Shego, who was speaking to Hego again. That was all Bonnie needed to see and she marched over to him.

“Hey, Johnnie,” Bonnie said with a small smile. “What’re you doing here?” Her voice was polite and friendly.

“I wanted to see you. You were amazing yesterday. I thought you might be doing something else today. I was a little disappointed to see you weren’t,” Johnnie answered with an awkward smile.

“I’m not skilled enough to be in that. They would’ve mopped the floor with me.” Bonnie paused for a moment. “I’m glad you came, though.”

Johnnie’s bright smile could have put the sun out of business. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Bonnie smiled, too, and then glanced over at the large group that she was with, wanting to see what they were up to. “Look, we’re all going to head back to my house. You should come. You can meet Kim’s and Shego’s families.”

Johnnie blinked hard in surprise. “You sure?”

The attorney nodded and took her brother by the hand. She pulled him over to the group and wasted no time in introducing him, making sure everyone knew he was her brother. Kim smiled when she noticed Johnnie and when she noticed Bonnie’s vigor. She hoped they mended their relationship and she hoped Shego and Hego could patch things up, too. Kim also made it a point to hug her own brothers, who accepted and returned the affection.

Kim then looked around at the motley crew and realized this was their family. She smiled at Shego and Bonnie, who smiled back. They had the power to bring together each other and all of these other different types of people. They were one big happy, crazy family. They would not have it any other way.

-8-8-8-8-

The end.

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed the story. If you want to find out more about Shego’s high school days, check out [Something’s Gotta Give](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2470142). This story also has a sequel called [Humanities and Sciences](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4785761). If you liked this story, please, check out some of my other works. Thanks again. I appreciate the support.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you wanna see more of my fanfics, they're all at FFN under [StarvingLunatic](https://www.fanfiction.net/~starvinglunatic). If you wanna see some original stories, you can look at FP under [StarvingLunatic](https://www.fictionpress.com/u/576301/).


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